PAC chairman to be from opposition, maintains deputy speaker

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Nga Kor Ming today affirmed that the government will stick to its election manifesto and choose an opposition parliamentarian to helm the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
He said the Speaker's office would hold a meeting with Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law Datuk Liew Vui Keong on Thursday to discuss and iron out the matter.
He said a new PAC chairman would be named latest by the end of the current sitting, which will run until mid-August.
"We will propose an opposition MP as PAC chairman. We are serious about fulfilling our manifesto. That is the reason why we need to call for this meeting to discuss. If we are not serious, we will not call for it.
"It has to be passed during this sitting. Just a bit a more patience," he told reporters in Parliament after a special meeting between Speaker Datuk
Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and media editors, here, today.
Nga was asked if the government would fulfil its pledge to appoint an opposition leader as the PAC chief.
On whether the current opposition leader, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has given any response or indication if he would take up the position, Nga said: "That you need to ask Ahmad Zahid."
Pakatan Harapan had prior to the general election in May said it wanted Parliament to be strengthened in order to play a more effective role in checking the executive, including appointing an opposition MP as the head of PAC.
Previously under Barisan Nasional (BN), the PAC was led by its own MP.