SHAH ALAM, Nov 29 — The Selangor state legislative speaker filed a motion today to make it compulsory for the opposition leader to chair the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) after Barisan Nasional (BN) rejected the post twice.
Hannah Yeoh, who is also the chairman of the Standing Orders Committee, said that BN turned down the important post twice after Pakatan Rakyat (PR) won Selangor in Election 2008, and after the federal opposition pact retained the country’s wealthiest state in the 13th general election.
“The role of the opposition cannot be taken for granted as an effective check and balance in any legislative assembly, and as such, there should be no discretion in his appointment to chair the influential Public Accounts Committee,” Yeoh told a press conference at the state legislative assembly here.
Then-Selangor opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo rejected in 2010 a motion to appoint BN’s Sungai Burong assemblyman, Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias, as the state PAC head, calling it a political move, according to news reports.
Shamsudin, who is currently the state opposition leader, again declined to chair the PAC last July, saying that he wished to remain a committee member.
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