Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 14): Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has repeated his call for the Auditor-General's report (AG's report) on its investigation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) be urgently declassified before the Dewan Rakyat resumes on Monday (May 16).

His renewed call came in a statement today following reports that there has been unlawful deletions to the Public Accounts Committe's Report that is to be tabled in Parliament, and his concern that the integrity and standing of the Dewan Rakyat in the eyes of the public may now be at stake.

"The deletions are about a subject matter of importance and controversy in respect of the unlawful movements of money that 1MDB had purportedly borrowed from international creditors," he said.

"In view of the deletions, I am concerned whether the report that is going to be presented to the Dewan Rakyat is a report that can stand up to the public concerns in respect of the purported loans that 1MDB claims to have made on behalf of the nation. The deletions will be considered not only as unlawful but also a serious breach of the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) 1952, Section 9(i), (j) and (n)(iii)," the Gua Musang MP, also known popularly as Ku Li, added.

He also noted that the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952 is intended to protect the integrity and reputation of the Dewan Rakyat so that the people of Malaysia will have confidence in the Dewan Rakyat as a constitutional institution to protect their interests. 

"A breach of the sections that I have referred to, which deals with the tampering, misrepresentation and falsification of the documents presented to the Dewan Rakyat, is precisely the kind of actions which fall within the offences under the act. 

"What it means is whatever deletions that have been made can cause apprehension among members of the public that the Report cannot, in the circumstances, reflect the entire truth of the facts surronding the 1MDB issue," he added.

In March 2015, the Cabinet had ordered a review of 1MDB's accounts by the National Audit Department following widespread reports of financial irregularities at the state-owned strategic investment fund, with the outcome to be handed over to the PAC to facilitate the latter's own probe on the fund.

PAC's report on its 1MDB probe was distributed last month to lawmakers at the start of the current Parliamentary sitting in early March this year, while the AG's report was announced as classified under the Official Secrets Act. 

"I am again making a call that the Auditor-General’s Report, which has been classified as “Official Secret”, should be declassified as a matter of urgency for the reasons I have given above and because the Members of the Dewan Rakyat have a constitutional right to the Auditor-General’s Report before Parliament sits on 16th May, 2016. 

"The issues are of such public importance that there cannot be any excuse for making the Auditor-General’s Report an official secret," said Razaleigh stressed.

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