(May 25): DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang today asked the Cabinet to "sack itself" if it doesn't dismiss the entire 1Malaysia Development Berhad's (1MDB) board after the current and former 1MDB bosses' decision to skip Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing tomorrow.

Both current CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi will not attend PAC's enquiry tomorrow, with the former citing other commitments while Shahrol reportedly seeking a month's extension before appearing before the parliamentary bi-partisan committee.

He said that the snub would be the "last straw on the camel's back" in the entire scandal surrounding 1MDB's dealings, as the state investment firm amassed a RM42 billion debt within a span of six years.

"It is unthinkable Arul Kanda and Shahrol Halmi would not know that their absence from the PAC hearing scheduled tomorrow to lay to rest all queries and doubts that there is anything amiss in 1MDB would let loose a tornado and its 'explosive' effect in confirming all the queries and doubts that there is something seriously and enormously wrong about 1MDB," Lim said in a statement today.

He also said that Arul and Shahrol's absence would not be possible without the greenlight from the highest authorities – reaching up to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak – who is also the 1MDB advisory board chairman.

"I fully agree with Umno veteran and former finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah that the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for the 1MDB scandal, as all the ministers must be collectively held responsible for it," he added.

Lim said that the snub should also be a "final wake up call" for Malaysians who think that there is nothing wrong with 1MDB.

Lim also said that despite calls from Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, there are no signs that the 1MDB board would be sacked or investigated.

In a leaked video recording of a closed door speech to some Umno leaders and division chiefs recently, Muhyiddin said that he had asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to sack the entire 1MDB board for the firm's dealings.

Muhyiddin is just one of many Umno leaders calling for sterner action in the 1MDB saga.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has gone on to call for Najib's resignation following the controversy surrounding 1MDB, which was the current prime minister's brainchild.

The auditor-general is currently conducting his own independent audit on 1MDB, due by end of June, but the spate of controversial 1MDB dealings has led the PAC to commence their own probe into the matter. – The Malaysian Insider