KUALA LUMPUR – Another Pakatan Harapan lawmaker is piling pressure on Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Azhar Azizan Harun to allow MPs to debate the Pandora Papers, echoing repeated calls by the opposition leader.
Klang MP Charles Santiago has slammed Azhar’s decision to not allow for the leaked documents to be debated, and that his justification is “baffling”.
He then called for a due diligence into the source of funds that “have enabled” Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz and former ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Tun Daim Zainuddin to have offshore accounts and properties overseas.
“Shouldn’t there be a proper investigation or a Royal Commission of Inquiry before Azhar arrives at his bizarre conclusion? Mr Speaker, this is really not cute.
“Especially now, when funds from tax evasion, if any, would come in handy to mitigate the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. When the money could be channelled to help the poor.
“It’s not illegal to have an offshore account but it’s certainly fraudulent to avoid taxes and have hidden assets. Without independent investigations, we would never know what some of the prominent Malaysians named in the leaked documents were up to,” said Santiago in a statement today.
He added that it is especially damaging when Tengku Zafrul, who holds the finance portfolio, is named in the Pandora Papers.
“Everyone who is named has an obligation to the rakyat to tell them the truth, to show documents and tax papers.
“And, if they have nothing to fear, they would do it without hiding behind the speaker.”
Previously, opposition chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s request to debate the Pandora Papers was repeatedly shot down by Azhar.
Anwar then took to ABC Radio National Australia recently, revealing that he asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob about the matter.
“I raised the issue, but the speaker refused to allow it to be debated. The PM, however, met me and asked what else could be done.
“I said, you must conduct a full investigation. It is not new. In 2012, I brought up the Global Financial Integrity report, then there were the Panama Papers in 2015, but then, I was in prison.
“Enforcement agencies, including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, cannot say this is something new, or we are looking into it. They must conduct a full investigation.” – The Vibes, October 12, 2021
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