This comes as PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed admitted that cases of power abuse are given the lowest priority under the committee’s jurisdiction.
“As a whole, I want to admit, it is true that PAC is toothless. PAC can only roar. We can make a lot of noise, but we don’t have any power,” Pua told a forum on the Auditor-General’s Report here.
“PAC can only go through several government agencies, or issues arising. Afterwards, that’s it. We have to hand them over to the enforcement agencies for follow-ups.”
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP gave the example of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, where former transport minister Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik was only charged with “cheating”, despite the PAC’s recommendation of a criminal breach of trust (CBT) charge.
Earlier in the same forum, Nur Jazlan explained that PAC members will cherry-pick issues to pursue, rather than handling all that come before them.
“Usually, they are issues involving the discipline of civil servants. Issues of embezzlement, I think they are at the bottom. The smallest issues,” Nur Jazlan told the forum.
“If there are elements of abuse of power, only then will we hand them over to the MACC for further actions,” he said, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
The PAC was announced last month by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and consists of nine Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs and five Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers.
The PAC’s composition revealed was said to reflect the composition of Parliament where the ruling coalition holds 133 seats against the federal opposition’s 89 seats.
In its first sitting, the PAC is expected to examine the role of Putrajaya’s investment arm Khazanah Nasional in the delay of the KLIA2 project.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek had also planned to explain to the committee about the payment of RM1.6 million for the performance of K-Pop artistes at the National Youth Day celebration 2012.- themalaymailonline
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