GEORGE TOWN, June 30 ― DAP refused today to buckle under pressure and remove its national publicity secretary Tony Pua from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) despite an Umno minister’s assertion of bias amid an ongoing probe into 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The federal opposition party’s secretary-general Lim Guan Eng also called on non-members not to meddle in DAP affairs.

“We will not accept any change because he is DAP's representative in PAC and he will remain as a DAP PAC member,” he told reporters after opening the Penang Adventist Oncology Center here this morning.

Pua has been under fire recently for criticising 1MDB obscure accounts.

Yesterday, Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek called for Pua to be removed from PAC, claiming the Petaling Jaya Utara MP has been making “biased” statements that allegedly “shame” PAC, the parliamentary system, DAP and his supporters.

Lim was not pleased with the call and retorted that Pua, as an opposition MP, has the responsibility to speak out about 1MDB as it is national interest.

As for calls for Pua to be removed from PAC, Lim reminded the detractors that this decision is entirely up to PAC.

“The PAC chairman Datum Nur Jazlan Mohamed already said there's nothing wrong so why are all these people not involved in PAC so busybody, this decision is not for busybodies to decide,” he said.

He said even though Pua is in PAC, it does not mean he can't speak out about 1MDB especially when what he says is based on information he received from his sources.

The Penang lawmaker questioned why the 1MDB issue cannot be raised when it's under investigation.

“We want to be sure that the investigation is carried out independently and if we can't talk about it because it is under investigation, then this means former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed also can't talk about it,” he said and demanded to know if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will sue Mahathir over 1MDB.

He also blamed the falling ringgit on the 1MDB scandal, saying that it is such a big issue to have caused the ringgit to fall further.

The debt-riddled 1MDB is a government-owned investment fund that was incorporated in 2009 and it is currently under investigation by PAC and three other federal agencies for alleged mismanagement.