KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Datuk Mohd Shamsudin Lias said today he would reject his appointment as chairman of the Selangor Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The Sungai Burong assemblyman insisted that the motion in the Selangor state assembly by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was politically motivated, saying that he wanted to defend the integrity of BN assemblymen.
“I did not accept the appointment because as far as I am concerned it is politically motivated. In fact, other BN lawmakers had earlier rejected the motion.
“This is a question of my principle and honour so I have to defend it,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
Mohd Shamsudin said PR had to prove that it was serious in the appointment.
“The BN representatives will discuss this matter because we feel that it may only be a political gimmick,” he said.
Yesterday, the state assembly approved the appointment of Mohd Shamsudin as the PAC head, but the move was opposed by the Umno man’s own colleagues.
State executive councillor Rodziah Ismail, who tabled the motion, said the former civil servant was an ideal candidate to head the committee because of his experience.
The motion received protests from the BN bench, especially from opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo who said they would only accept the appointment if the number of opposition members in the committee outnumbered the members from the ruling PR government.
According to Dr Khir, there would be no transparency or check and balance in the committee unless four members from the opposition were in the committee.
However, Speaker Teng Chang Khim explained that the state was merely following rules. He said the number of opposition members in any committee in the state must reflect their ratio in the state assembly.
The seven-member committee has five members from the PR ranks and two members from the opposition bench.
Teng stressed that the validity of the motion was not affected by the protests from the opposition, saying that Mohd Shamsudin could not resign from his position because his appointment was “the order of the House”.
He explained that Mohd Shamsudin would be abdicating his job if he did not assume his duties as the committee head.
