(July 29): The Public Accounts Committee's (PAC), despite not having a chairman for now, can still function with Dr Tan Seng Giaw as its vice-chairman, DAP said today.

The party's parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said this was because the DAP MP was appointed by Parliament and has sufficient working numbers to continue with investigations into debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

He said under the Parliamentary Standing Orders, the present PAC had sufficient membership to continue its investigations into 1MDB, despite losing Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed as PAC chairman and three other Umno MPs as its members.

"There is no reason PAC should halt its investigations on 1MDB as there are still nine members in the PAC, with Seng Giaw as PAC vice-chairman taking over from Nur Jazlan as acting PAC chairman, together with four MPs from  Umno/BN, two from PKR, and one each from DAP and PAS," Lim said in a statement today.

Lim said any attempt to halt the PAC probe into 1MDB would only prove that the objective of yesterday's Cabinet reshuffle was to block and sabotage investigations into the nation's biggest financial scandal.

He also expressed shock that Nur Jazlan had accepted the appointment as deputy home minister, pointing out that it was not long ago that the Umno man had indicated he was ore keen to wrap up the probe into 1MDB when talk came up that he would be appointed to the Cabinet.

The three other PAC members – Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin – were appointed deputy ministers while Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau was appointed science, technology and innovation minister in the Cabinet reshuffle by the prime minister yesterday.

Lim said Nur Jazlan was wrong and guilty of conflict of interest when he said yesterday the PAC probe into 1MDB was now on hold until the next parliamentary meeting in October.

He asked why this was happening when 1MDB's current and former chief executives, including Arul Kanda Kandasamy, Shahrol Halmi, Mohd Hazeem Abdul Rahman as well as the “real mover and shaker”, businessman Low Taek Jho, had been asked to testify before the bipartisan parliamentary committee.

"As PAC chairman, Nur Jazlan fully appreciates the doctrine of separation of powers among the executive, legislature and the judiciary and the importance of ensuring that there is no interference or trespass by one on the other.

"Why is his first act following his appointment as deputy home minister to undermine this important distinction between the executive and the legislature by unilaterally and arbitrarily announcing that PAC hearings into 1MDB are on hold?" Lim asked.

He added that PAC would be guilty of “grave national disservice” if it did not continue with investigations into 1MDB to uphold the principles of accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance as the bedrock of Malaysian parliamentary democracy.

1MDB has come under intense scrutiny and is being investigated by PAC and a high level government task force following allegations of mismanagement that resulted in the fund accumulating debts of RM42 billion and more recent allegations in The Wall Street Journal that US$700 million (RM2.67 billion) from 1MDB-linked entities was channelled into the prime minister's personal bank accounts.

1MDB is particularly sensitive for the government, as Datuk Seri Najib Razak is its advisory board chairman and also heads the Finance Ministry, which owns 1MDB.

One of the four members of the task force, Attorney General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail was also replaced yesterday by Federal Court judge Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali. – The Malaysian Insider