Thursday, March 12, 2009

PAC inquiry - tomorrow 3pm

The PAC inquiry is fixed on tomorrow, 3pm at Aras G, SUK.

Today, a group of Perak residents met me at SUK and handed over a Petition to me, calling the PAC to suspend the salary for Zambry pending the Perak crisis being solved. The Petition consists of 268 signatures and the PAC will take into consideration and deliberate on the issue tomorrow.

I have also received a fax from the Secretary to PAC, En. Kamarulariffin that he was under instructions to inform me that Zambry and the Three ex-officios are “unable” to attend the inquiry tomorrow due to “urusan rasmi kerajaan”.

The reason and excuse given was highly doubted and contradicting Zambry’s earlier stance. Zambry had in his earlier statement alleged that our PAC is unlawful and he quoted an British Text Book saying that the PAC cannot sit when the House is adjourned (I do not know where he learns this…). The fact is that pursuant to the Standing Order, the PAC cannot sit when the House is in sitting. It is the other way round. Is he going back to the British era and still treating them as mother?

Be it as it may, as I said at the very beginning, we will not stick to our stringent rules but rather we will conduct the inquiry in a more flexible way. However, there should be mutual respect. The integrity of PAC cannot be undermined.

As such, again I am giving them benefit of doubt, and had written all 4 of them a letter stating that the PAC inquiry should be given priority over other programmes. I have suggested to them that in the event they are unable to make it due to “urusan rasmi kerajaan yang tidak dapat dielakkan”, the PAC is willing to grant another date within 10 days time to ensure their attendance. We have to make it 10 days as the matter cannot be dragged on longer as the People’s interest needed to be protected. However, the request for a new date must be put in writing and to reach the PAC before 3pm tomorrow, i.e. the time when the meeting to start, otherwise it will only prove that they have no intention to attend. We will proceed to adjudicate and deliberate on the matters arising in their absence if they choose to absent themselves and kept quiet over the PAC’s offer for a new date.

Let see if they still have the little respect to the administration by law in this State.

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