IPOH, April 15 — The Perak state Opposition reminded Pakatan Harapan (PH) today of its promise to appoint an Opposition lawmaker to head the state’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
Opposition leader Datuk Saarani Mohamad said today ahead of the first meeting of the second session of the 14th state legislative assembly tomorrow that in PH’s 2018 election manifesto, PH had promised to have a state legislative assembly with integrity.
“Among the reforms envisaged by PH was to appoint an Opposition member to head the Public Accounts Committee as implemented in Parliament.”
“Sadly, a similar appointment has not been made in the Perak assembly,” he said.
In a statement here today, the Kota Tampan assemblyman said despite being in power for more than 10 months, PH’s various promises have yet to be fulfilled.
“The reason given by assembly Speaker Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham on the refusal to appoint an Opposition member into PAC was the state government wanted to reveal the various misdeeds of the former government.”
“It is indeed saddening as it appears to be a witch-hunting session by the government against Barisan Nasional. Even in Dewan Rakyat, such a reason was not used to refuse the PAC chairman post for Opposition,” he said, adding that in Perak assembly, the chairman and deputy chairman of PAC are from the ruling coalition.
Saarani said the PH government needs to start behaving like a government and not still carry an Opposition mentality.
“The state government must rule the state in the best interest of the people and not keep creating wrongs as an excuse not to fulfill promises,” he said.
Saarani said the assembly’s integrity must be upheld and should not be used as a stage to create false perceptions or allegations.
The Perak assembly will sit for six days, ending April 23.
