By Neville Spykerman
SHAH ALAM, Sept 20 — Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim today rejected calls from his own administration to stop the special select committee for competency, accountability and transparency (Selcat) from carrying out public inquiries.
Standing firm on the principle of separation of powers, the Selangor mentri besar pointed out that Selcat was established by the state legislature and it was the assembly that must consider calls for reforms.
Selcat has been credited with exposing how the now-defunct Wives of Elected Selangor Representatives Welfare Organisation (Balkis) squandered public funds.
Currently a public inquiry is being held over the ways Barisan Nasional state lawmakers finished their annual funds allocations in the first two months of 2008, for campaigning before the general elections.
Despite its successes and wide public appeal, Selcat has been criticised by Selangor executive councillor (exco) Datuk Dr Hassan Ali for “bullying public servants” during the recent public inquiry.
The PAS Commissioner has also suggested that any further inquiries be held behind closed doors.
Khalid said Hassan was entitled to his views but stressed that the state government will not interfere with the affairs of Selcat.
However, he said discussions will be held before any decision is made on how to tackle the grouses of district officers (DOs) who are unhappy with the way they were grilled by Selcat.
The state allocations were disbursed through the nine district officers who acted as financial officers for the millions of ringgit spent by the BN lawmakers.
Khalid today sidestepped questions on whether action would be taken against Klang district officer Datuk Bakhtiar Husin, who breached General Orders by issuing a press statement criticising Selcat chairman Teng Chang Khim yesterday.
Bakhtiar, in an article in Sinar Harian yesterday, claimed he was embarrassed by Teng during the inquiry.
Meanwhile, Hassan today denied he was trying to undermine Selcat and said Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wholeheartedly supported the committee.
However, he said he was disappointed at the way the DOs were treated during the public inquiry.
“They feel they were humiliated, their image had been tarnished and they were treated not as senior government officials but as school kids.”
Hassan today also defended the DOs’ actions and said they had discharged their duties professionally.
“They owed their allegiance to the government of the day, which was Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN), so it was natural they followed instructions.”
He added Selcat members should comprise ex-judges, who were impartial, instead of state lawmakers
However, Teng today lashed out at Hassan Ali as being either ignorant of parliamentary practices or trying to create something new by suggesting that the select committee comprise former members of the judiciary.
He added that while public inquiries may be new in Malaysia, they were held in all modern democracies.
Teng today denied PR was again in crisis because of the dispute.
“PR is never in crisis, it’s only one man who has a personal crisis. First he tries to ban beer and now this.”
He accused Hassan of trying to gain popularity by coming to the defence of the civil servants.
“Unknown to them, Hassan Ali had been pushing for all senior civil servants — including DO’s, heads of local authorities, the state secretary and state legal advisor — to be replaced during PR state meetings,” he said.
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