KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — The Dewan Rakyat has rejected a question to the Finance Ministry on the Panama Papers leak on grounds that it was in violation of Parliament’s Standing Orders.
In a notice to Gooi Hsiao Leung, the PKR MP who proposed the question, Dewan Rakyat secretary Datuk Roosme Hamzah explained that the query was turned down as Standing Order 23(1)(i) stipulates that questions to the House regarding the accuracy of media reports are prohibited.
“A question shall not be asked as to whether statements in the press or of private individuals or financial bodies are accurate,” the rule states.
Gooi had asked the ministry to state if the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Internal Revenue Board have commenced investigations on the Malaysians named in the Panama Papers.
The Panama Papers information leak involves over 11.5 million confidential documents created by Panamanian corporate service provider Mossack Fonseca.
The documents provide detailed information on more than 214,000 offshore companies, the names of their shareholders as well as their directors, which included government leaders, their close associates and even close relatives.
Those named in the Panama Papers include individuals from Malaysia, Brazil, China, France, India, Pakistan, the UK, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Russia, Mexico, Argentina and Ukraine.
Despite concerns over 2,000 Malaysians alleged to own offshore accounts, BNM said on Friday no investigations will begin for the time being.
