The Malaysian Insight

FOUR opposition lawmakers today expressed digruntlement over the speed at which a select committee hearing with the MACC chief was called off after he had written to the committee chairman.

The MPs said parliament secretary Dr Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin had issued an official notice that the hearing was postponed mere minutes after the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Agencies had decided to defer the event indefinitely. 

The hearing was to be held tomorrow.

Committee chairman Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman (Kuala Krai-PN) scrapped the meeting following a letter from Azam Baki, who had given several reasons for why the hearing should not proceed.

The four lawmakers objecting to the postponement are Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan) and Pakatan Harapan MPs Chan Foong Hin (Kota Kinabalu), Khoo Poay Tiong (Kota Melaka) and William Leong (Selayang).

“The four of us do not agree to the meeting being postponed. I want to highlight that the chairman of the select committee informed us yesterday at 11.59am that he had decided to postpone the meeting,” Khoo said in a press conference today.

“Five minutes before that, he had informed us that he had received a reply from Azam where he had listed down the reasons why he cannot appear.

“Five minutes after that, the chairman made the decision to postpone, despite many of us not agreeing.

“Less than 12 minutes after his (Latiff’s) decision, the Dewan Rakyat secretary had prepared the letter informing us that the hearing was postponed.”

Azam was told on January 10 to attend the meeting set for January 19. Yesterday the committee chairman Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman announced the meeting was postponed indefinitely following a letter from Azam.

In his letter to Latiff, Azam said the hearing was in breach of the Dewan Rakyat’s Standing Orders.

The MACC chief also said he had filed a civil suit over allegations that had been made against him and that he was under investigation by other agencies.

The four today asked Latiff to reconsider his decision.

“We can still have the meeting, the terms of reference have not been discussed,” Foong said.

“It makes no sense to postpone the meeting indefinitely. The power to call the meeting is in the chairman’s hands; we can continue the meeting tomorrow.”

The financial affairs of Azam came under scrutiny following the revelation that he had allowed his brother to use his trading account to purchase shares in two companies in 2015 and 2016. At the time, Azam was head of the MACC investigation unit.

Even though Azam has been cleared of wrongdoing by MACC advisory board chief Abu Zahar Ujang, he has been called to appear before the special select committee to explain himself.

He is also under investigation by the Securities Commission and the MACC complaints committee.  – January 18, 2022.