Madinah says negative publicity will not deter her from carrying out her duties as AG

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Madinah Mohamad (pix) has said the negative publicity, which had greeted her appointment as Attorney General will not deter her from carrying out her duties as auditor general.
The newly minted auditor general's partiality was questioned by the opposition after it revealed that her husband had professed loyalty at an Umno division meeting to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak at a meeting.
But Madinah has put the negative publicity behind her and after two months in the job, she said it was an "enriching" experience and said she is focused on her tasks. She was appointed on Feb 20.
"All of that is behind me now because I'm now concentrating fully on my task, and I think I have a lot to deliver to the people and government," Madinah told reporters after delivering a lecture on Accountability in Financial Management in Education Sector at the Universiti Islam Antarabangsa here today.
Today was the first time Madinah had addressed the concerns raised about her partiality after her appointment.
Her husband Kepong Umno chief Datuk Rizuan Abd Hamid had at the division's annual meeting in October 2015, said he was willing to die for the Prime Minister.
"I am willing to die for Najib. Don't touch Najib. If I am to die, I want to die with Najib. This is our (Kepong Umno) vow. To die in politics is better than to die for nothing," he was quoted as saying in news reports.
Acknowledging the challenge of her new role as audit chief, Madinah said she has the full support of the National Audit Department in fulfilling her duties.
"I thank the government for appointing me. It is a challenging task of which I'm up for.
"I have the support of all those in the audit department and I look forward to presenting my first report to Parliament," she said.
Madinah said she her experiences as former secretary general of Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry and Education Ministry has helped her in the audit department.
Madinah, 60, holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science from Universiti Sains Malaysia as well as a Master of Science in human resource development and a doctorate in human resource management from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
She thanked the media for waiting to interview her and simply smiled when asked whether there is any plan to declassify the final audit report on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) report to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which was submitted in March 2016.
The 1MDB audit report is classified under the Official Secrets Act.