Press Statement By DAP Secretary-General And MP For Bagan Lim Guan Eng In Kuala Lumpur On 19.11.2015
To Preserve The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Independence And Integrity, Hasan Arifin Can Either Resign As PAC Chairman Or Summons Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak To Appear And Answer The PAC Investigating The RM42 Billion 1MDB Scandal.
PAC Chairman Datuk Hasan Arifin should stop sulking (merajuk) by refusing to call any press conferences and passing the blame to the media for his admission that it was not necessary to call in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to answer the PAC in its investigation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). When Hasan was asked why he was not following the previous PAC chairman, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, who did not rule out calling Najib in the 1MDB probe, Hasan replied:
“Jangan la, saya pun nak cari makan jugak” (Please, I also need to make a living).
Calling in the prime minister, who is also the finance minister, is necessary as Datuk Seri Najib is directly involved as the Chairman of 1MDB’s advisory board. Hasan saying that he needs to “cari makan jugak”, has destroyed Hasan’s credibility as PAC Chairman by given an unfortunate public impression that appears to put his own personal livelihood above his public duties or public interest. Worse, he has also adversely tarnished the authority and image of PAC as an important Parliamentary select committee to ensure full public accountability and no wastage, financial breaches and leakages as well as misappropriation of public funds.
To preserve the PAC’s independence and integrity, Hasan Arifin can either resign as PAC Chairman, or summons Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak to appear and answer PAC that is investigating the RM42 billion 1MDB scandal. Hasan cannot try to dismiss this serious lapse and admission of partiality by turning it into a remark to have lunch and made in jest with the intention to be friendly with the media, for whom he provided lunch.
As a Malay, Hasan could have said, “Sila semua makan tengahari” and has no excuse not to know what “cari makan” means, when all 30 million Malaysians are crystal clear as to the implications of the term “cari makan”. Malaysiakini had revealed that Hasan made the remark 14 minutes into his 18-minute long press conference, while the media was only invited to lunch at the beginning and towards the tail-end of the press conference.
Malaysiakini reported that Hasan also did not state that his remark was off the record. Malaysiakini had reproduced the excerpt from the PAC chief’s press conference:
Reporter: From what I understand, (former PAC chief) Nur Jazlan (Mohamed) said they would call credit raters, then they said if necessary, they will call the prime minister…
Reporter: Just to add on lah, Datuk…
Hasan: (Laughs) Jangan la, saya pun nak cari makan jugak (Laughs). I’m sorry you (laughs) you (inaudible).
PAC will be calling in 1MDB president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former CEO Datuk Shahrol Halmi in its meeting next week. The public is disappointed that Hasan does not think it is a priority to call in the central and controversial figure of multi-millionaire Low Taek Jho is to assist with the investigations. Why is Low Taek Jho so protected? The public cannot be faulted to be sceptical of Hasan and that the PAC investigations is expected to be a whitewash when the two central characters of the Prime Minister and Low Taek Jho are not summonsed for questioning.
LIM GUAN ENG
— CN —
民主行动党秘书长兼峇眼区国会议员林冠英于2015年11月19日在吉隆坡发表的声明：
为保住国会公共账目委员会（PAC）的独立性及廉正，哈山阿里芬要么辞去公账会主席一职，否则就需传召首相纳吉，以调查一个马来西亚发展公司420亿令吉的丑闻。
公账会主席拿督哈山阿里芬不应该因他不准备传召首相以问话，以协助公账会调查一个马来西亚发展公司丑闻而怪罪媒体，甚至发牢骚称不会再召开新闻发布会。当哈山受媒体追问，为何他不像前公账会主席拿督诺加兹兰般，不排除将会传召首相纳吉以调查一马丑闻时，哈山这么答道：“不要这样啦，我也要‘找吃’的”（”Jangan la, saya pun nak cari makan jugak” (Please, I also need to make a living)。
传召首相兼财政部长纳吉是有必要的，因他身为一个马来西亚发展公司咨询委员会主席，是直接涉及的。哈山脱口而出的“需要‘找吃’论”，经已完全摧毁他身为公账会主席的公信力，更给予公众一个非常恶劣的印象– 即他重视个人生活利益多过公众利益或其公职。更糟糕的是，他也对国会公共账目委员会的形象及威信造成严重的破坏。公账会的设立是要确保公共资金不被浪费、不违反金融条例、公款不被挪用等问责制度的完善性。
为保住公账会的独立性及廉正，要么哈山阿里芬辞去公账会主席一职，要么他就得传召首相拿督斯里纳吉阿都拉萨，以调查一个马来西亚发展公司420亿令吉的丑闻。哈山不能够尝试驳回这严重的失误，说是要邀请媒体吃午餐，转称是以开玩笑方式，说‘我也要’找吃’，显示自己与媒体更为亲切。
身为一个马来人，他理应说“请各位午餐” （Sila semua makan tengahari）。当全马来西亚3000万国民都绝对“会意”“找吃”这字眼代表的意境时，他更没有理由不明白“找吃”（cari makan）所表达的意思。《当今大马》更揭发，哈山在其18分钟长的记者会上，其“找吃”论从第14分钟开始至记者会结束为止，而他邀请媒体午餐一事，却是是记者会开始之际。
《当今大马》也报导，哈山在当时并没有说明这段话是不能被发表的。《当今大马》也转载并摘录了哈山在新闻发布会上的重点：
记者：根据我所理解，（前任公账会主席）诺加兹兰说他们会传召信用评级员，然后他们说，若有必要，将会传召首相…
记者：加一些啦，拿督…
哈山（大笑）：不要这样啦，我也要‘找吃’的（大笑），不好意思，你（大笑）你（听不清楚）
公账会将会在下个星期，传召一个马来西亚发展公司主席阿鲁甘达及前首席执行员拿督沙鲁。让民众感到失望的是，哈山不认为传召百万富翁刘特佐这关键及争议性人物协助调查是该委会需优先处理的事项。为何刘特佐获得如此受保护的对待？这也不能怪罪公众会对公账会持有质疑的态度，因为当两名在此案最关键的人物– 即首相及刘特佐都没有被传召问话时，民众固然会预计：这又是一个粉饰及漂白计划了。
林冠英