The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is an independent committee whose members are appointed at every term of the Parliament’s commencement (SO 77(2)). Its function is to examine the federal government’s spending and the appropriation of the sums granted by the Parliament to meet public expenditure.
The PAC’s primary source of information on the government’s financial accountability is the Auditor-General Annual Report which is produced twice a year. Assisted by reports by the Accountant General Department, the PAC examines both documents and initiates investigations into cases of public interest as a key mechanism to ensure good accountability of the federal government.
The role of the PAC chairperson was helmed by an opposition party member (Noraini Ahmad, Parit Sulong MP — BN) for the first time during the Pakatan Harapan administration. This practice of appointing an MP from the opposition (Wong Kah Woh, Ipoh Timur MP — DAP) to lead the PAC was maintained by the Perikatan Nasional government in May 2020.
The aim, therefore, is to legislate for the principal role to be assumed by an opposition party member of any Cabinet formed.
Setting in place an impartial counter-checking function where transparency and public access to information are being prioritised and demanded, it is hoped that this measure among others would increase government accountability in all matters pertaining to government spending.
April 14, 2022 Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin appeared on Thursday morning (April 14) before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to testify in proceedings relating to the development and acquisition of the MySejahtera mobile application. During the nearly three-hour meeting, Tengku Zafrul presented in the first […]
April 14, 2022 The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will call up three agencies under the Prime Minister’s Department next Thursday (April 21) to provide explanations on the development and procurement of MySejahtera, its chairman Wong Kah Woh said. “The PAC is of the opinion that there is a need to call other witnesses to provide […]
April 14, 2022 Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) today heard testimony, on its first day of investigations into MySejahtera, about the development, ownership, and security of personal data on the Covid-19 app. Today’s proceedings of over three hours, which saw PAC questioning Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz, also discussed the […]
July 21, 2021 (PN) The Public Accounts Commitee (PAC) which is set to resume its proceedings on July 27 will focus on the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccines by the Federal government under the Special Committee for Ensuring Access to Covid-19 Vaccine Supply (JKJAV). In its proceeding, the PAC is expected to call upon the […]
July 2, 2021 (PN) The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will meet physically on July 26 in Parliament at 2pm. This comes after the June 28 decree by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) calling for Parliamentary Select Committees (PSCs) to check and balance the government. Parliament has yet to reconvene due to the declared state of […]
January 5, 2021 (PN) The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh, in a statement today, said the committee will perform its duties to safeguard national interest concerning the procurement of the Covid-19 vaccines. He assured the PAC will balance its role of carrying out legislative scrutiny while adhering to the terms of the […]
December 17, 2020 (PN) The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Wong Kah Woh said it is investigating the delay in Boustead Naval Shipyard’s (BNS) delivery of six littoral combat ships (LCS) to the navy and hopes to complete the report by March (2021). Wong said the committee planned to resume the proceedings in early January […]
(Attn: Cynthia Gabriel)