KUALA LUMPUR (June 17, 2009) : Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid today dismissed a request from Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) that he withdraw from his position as the committee chairman in hearing the briefing on the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

After chairing the committee meeting in parliament, Azmi told reporters he had discussed with all members of the PAC and majority of the members, including two MPs from the opposition, who disagreed that he should follow Lim’s request.

"I would like to thank the confidence given to me by the PAC members to continue to chair on this issue," he said.

Azmi explained that what had been discussed in the PAC meeting is recorded in verbatim or word-by-word format and made into a public document for Parliament.

"If I, as the chairman, had not acted transparently or has been unfair, my act can be seen in the document.

"So I have decided not to withdraw based on the opinion of my colleagues and on the fact that PAC does not have the executive power except to ask the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.

"In this case, we have asked the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the matter and we have provided our views to the commssion," he said.

In a letter to Azmi, Lim, a DAP veteran leader, asked that Azmi should step down because it would be a conflict of interest as Azmi was a cabinet minister between 2004 and 2008, during which time the cabinet took various decisions on the issue, including the retrospective approval of the four letters of support issued by former Transport Ministers Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy as well as the cabinet approval of RM4.6 billion soft loan for the PKFZ project in 2007.

Azmi also said the PAC today decided to postpone the briefing with the MACC to next Tuesday as its Chief Commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan had failed to turn up for the briefing.

He added that the meeting did not discuss about the PKFZ with MACC but only on Lim’s request asking him to withdraw from the inquiry.

"The MACC had sent its investigation director Datuk Mohd Shukri Abdull to attend the meeting but PAC cannot deal with the authority without its chief and we want him (Ahmad Said) to come before the PAC," he added.

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