THE Special Select Committee for Agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department parliamentary proceedings to discuss Azam Baki’s shares holdings will be closed to the public, said Azhar Azizan Harun.

The Dewan Rakyat speaker said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner’s hearing is no different than other selection committee proceedings.

“Standing orders do not allow open proceedings. In fact, a standing order disallows discussion or disclosure of witnesses, witness statements and contents of the proceeding until a report has been presented to Dewan Rakyat,” he was quoted as saying by The Star online today.

This will preserve the integrity of such proceedings, he added.

He was responding to Edmund Terence Gomez, who called for the meeting to be open to the media and public.

Gomez resigned from the MACC Consultation and Corruption Prevention Panel last month.

“Though it is good to have the parliamentary proceedings, I would like to argue that it must be open to the media and public. It is important that the media is also privy to the discussions in the proceedings,” he was quoted as saying in news reports.

The committee will discuss the chief commissioner’s controversial shares ownership. Azam has not indicated if he will attend.

Dewan Rakyat secretary Nizam Mydin Bacha Mydin sent out the notice to committee members last week, and Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin shared the notice on his Facebook.

All committee members – including chairman Abdul Latiff Abdul Rahman, who is PAS’ Kuala Krai MP – are invited to attend the 2pm meeting in Parliament on Wednesday.

Other than from Chan and Latiff, other committee members are Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN), Mohd Nizar Zakaria (Parit-BN), Shaharizukirnain Abd Kadir (Setiu-PAS), Khoo Poay Tiong (Kota Melaka-PH), William Leong (Selayang-PH), Anyi Ngau (Baram-GPS) and Mohd Azis Jamman (Sepanggar-Warisan). – January 16, 2022.