(Oct 26): Four MPs from Barisan Nasional (BN) and one from PAS have been appointed to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to replace those who were elevated to government in late July.

Their names were sighted by The Malaysian Insider in the minutes of a meeting by the committee of selection signed by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia.

BN's Putatan MP Datuk Dr Makin @ Marcus Mojigoh replaces former member Datuk Madius Tangau who was appointed the Science, Technology and Innovation minister.

BN's Jasin MP Datuk Ahmad Hamzah replaces Datuk Mas Emieyati Shamsudin, while BN's Langkawi representative Datuk Nawawi Ahmad takes over from Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican.

Both Mas Emieyati and Reezal Merican were appointed as deputy ministers by prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the July Cabinet reshuffle.

Another BN MP, Alor Gajah's Datuk Koh Nai Kwong was also appointed to the bipartisan panel, to replace the vacancy by MCA's Datuk Chua Tee Yong, who was appointed deputy finance minister in June last year.

PAS's Kota Baru MP Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan was appointed to the PAC at the request of his party to replace Datuk Kamarudin Jaafar who joined PKR last month. Takiyuddin is also PAS secretary-general.

The PAC now has 14 members, including its newly-elected chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin the Rompin MP from BN.

DAP's Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who had recently faced calls for him to go due to his vocal criticism of 1Malaysian Development Berhad (1MDB), is still in the committee.

PAC was probing the state-owned investment firm for financial irregularities but its investigations were frozen pending the new appointments into the panel.

Critics claimed the Cabinet reshuffle which resulted in the vacancies on the panel was an attempt by Putrajaya to stall investigations.

There is no date yet for the PAC to restart its inquiry. – The Malaysian Insider