DAP rejects secrecy oath, wants PAC hearings made public instead

(Malay Mail Online) – The DAP has rejected the proposal that all members of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) be made to take an oath of secrecy, saying the parliamentary panel’s hearings should instead be open to the public.

In a statement, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said that this was one of the five resolutions made yesterday by the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).

“Strongly opposes the proposed oath of secrecy of Public Account Committee (PAC) members as an attempt to stifle public discussion of financial scandals especially in regards to investigations into the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal and urges PAC hearings to be made public as is a generally accepted practice in Commonwealth countries,” the resolution said.

Last Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi proposed that all PAC members take an oath of secrecy to maintain confidentiality of the committee’s proceedings.

He added that any statements or reports issued by the PAC should come directly from the committee and not individual members.

This is although the contents of the PAC’s inquiries and hearing are already confidential, and may not be revealed before these are tabled in Parliament.

Documents thought to be from the PAC’s probe on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) are believed to be the basis of several Wall Street Journal exposés on the Malaysian firm, including one alleging that a US$993 million payment to International Petroleum Investment Corporation (IPIC) went missing.

The reports prompted Umno leaders to allege that PAC members sold information on 1MDB for profit and demand authorities investigate their finances.

1MDB has also used the purported leak to deflect DAP MP Tony Pua’s criticism, regularly telling him to investigate the source of the leak before continuing his offensive against the firm.

Former PAC chairman Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed has insisted that the leak could not have come from members of the committee, however, saying they would not have been given copies of the transcripts from the hearings that contained the relevant documents.

“The leak must have come from Parliament, from the staff. Parliament, the Speaker must launch an investigation immediately,” Nur Jazlan told Malay Mail Online last month.