KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 — The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is a parliamentary committee formed to scrutinise the financial expenditure of the government and taxpayers’ money.
The independent body formed way back in 1959, initially served as a financial oversight committee that checked on the financial procedures and performance accountability of executive bodies, but as the country progressed, the PAC adopted several reform measures to make it more effective and accountable.
Among others, Malaysia finally appointed an Opposition lawmaker to lead the PAC during the 14th Parliament, after Pakatan Harapan (PH) took over Putrajaya from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) then.
The proposal of making PAC hearings public was one the reform suggested many times in the past, but till today has not materialised.
A prominent argument against this proposal given by former Dewan Rakyat Speakers including Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun was that live telecast of the PAC hearings would be against a House rule meant to protect those who testify before the parliamentary committee.
They both cited the Standing Order 85, which specifically states that no parliamentary committee, including the PAC, is allowed to publicise its discussions as long as its report on the said investigation has not been completed and submitted to Parliament.
Former PAC chairman Wong Kah Woh, however, had argued that the Speaker has the power to initiate the suspension of Standing Order 85 by referring the same to the House for a decision pursuant to Standing Order 90(2), and with the suspension, any Parliamentary Committees proceeding can be opened to the public.
In 2022, Wong made the call to make public a hearing to discuss the share trading controversy involving Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, whereby Azhar had then said no to Wong’s proposal.
Today, this proposal has been raised again by newly appointed PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and vice-chairman Wong Shu Qi.
Both MPs had sought to amend the Standing Order to pave way for future PAC hearings made public.
Can it be done?
Kah Woh again said yes to the proposal and explained that the implementation of the proposal depends on two things.
“Firstly, the Speaker — for the amendment of Standing Order to allow evidence taken in the proceedings be made public prior to the publication of the report.
“Secondly, the government — the amendment to Section 9(m) of the Houses of Parliament (Privileges and Powers) Act 1952,” he said when contacted.
Section 9(m) of the Act says: “the publication of any Report of a Committee of the House or of any evidence given or any documents presented to such Committee or extracts from such documents before such Committee has presented its Report to the House”.
“The proposal for live broadcast was mooted many, many years ago, however, it hasn’t been implemented till now.
“During my tenure, I had again requested for live broadcast with the Speaker and the then government (Barisan Nasional), yet it couldn’t materialise,” he said referring to a call once made in 2015 by fellow DAP colleague, former Damansara MP Tony Pua when Pandika was Speaker of the lower House.
Why a public hearing
Kah Woh said it is important for PAC proceedings to be made live as it is the right of the people to know and to have first-hand information.
“It is in line with the principle of transparency and rights to information.
“The public can see for themselves how ministers or government officers handle each and every issue that arises,” he said.
He added that nothing in the proceedings shall be deemed secretive as eventually the Hansard will be published as part of the report.
In fact, he said all PAC proceedings should be made live, except for issues involving national security. In this regard, Kah Woh said the PAC chairman can decide what amounts to national security.
“As such, there’s no issue of answers being taken out of context or issue of witnesses not feeling comfortable,” he said.
Supporting Kah Woh’s view is former PAC member PKR MP for Subang Wong Chen, who said both PAC and public select committee (PSC) hearings should be televised publicly as a default position, with exceptions where the hearings involve genuine national security.
In December 2019, Tan Sri Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, who was Dewan Rakyat Speaker during the PH administration, had then announced that the parliamentary special select committees and special chamber proceedings would be streamed live in 2020 starting in March.
He had said that it was part of parliamentary reforms to ensure the accountability of MPs to the media and public.
“Having public hearings serves two main purposes, that is, increasing accountability of officials and ministers and secondly is to encourage the committee members to be better prepared and take a more proactive role to defend democracy,” Wong Chen said.
Moreover, he said in the aspect of witnesses ‘not feeling comfortable’, they are under oath to testify on important issues.
“So they are going to be uncomfortable,” he said.
He added that despite repeated calls for the hearings to be made public, the delay is due to a lack of political will.
“Defence testimonies about our forces are clearly national security issues, but terms of concession for tolls and power plants are not,” he said giving examples of issues that could or could not be heard publicly.
Elected by the people
Constitutional lawyer Andrew Khoo has also voiced his support for hearings to be made public, citing similarities to trials in court.
“I am generally in favour of having Parliamentary Committee proceedings open to the public.
“Parliamentarians are elected by the people. Their Parliamentary work should therefore be open and transparent.
“Even for trials in court, proceedings are open to the public, unless the court orders some part of the proceedings to be in camera (closed door or private) because of the sensitivity of the testimony, or to protect certain witnesses who have certain vulnerabilities,” Khoo told Malay Mail.
So likewise, he said it can be done for all Parliamentary Committees (including the PAC).
“The default position should be that it is open to all, unless the evidence involves confidential information, or to protect whistleblower witnesses,” he said.
Weighing in, Senior fellow at Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research Azmi Hassan said matters that arrive at the PAC are usually of public concern.
“Usually whatever goes to the PAC’s attention, is of public interest. When it is made public there is no chance for the report to be retracted
“But it should not be a blanket policy — that all PAC hearings will be or can be made public — it should be made on a case-by-case basis because certain issues have different merits,” he said.
