SEREMBAN, July 30 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has proposed holding a special Parliament sitting to discuss the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report on Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) as soon as possible.
He said the date, however, would need the approval of Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Dr Johari Abdul.
“The Special Parliament sitting has been decided, but the date must first be agreed by the speaker. I have proposed that it be held as soon as possible to allow Members of Parliament time to study the report, hear further explanations and debate it openly throughout the day,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Anwar was speaking after the Temu Anwar programme with more than 2,000 Form Six and polytechnic students in Negeri Sembilan here.
He said the Cabinet’s decision to conduct a transparent investigation into the matter covered not only issues investigated in 2014 and 2017, but also developments in 2018, 2019 and 2020, as well as the recovery measures implemented afterwards.
Anwar said the public should be given the opportunity to assess the matter based on the findings and explanations contained in the report.
He said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), through its governor at the time, had issued warnings on the matter in 2014 and 2017, but no appropriate action was taken until the situation worsened in 2018.
“The full and comprehensive RCI report on Tabung Haji will reveal that early warnings were issued in 2014 and 2017, but they were ignored, resulting in huge losses,” he said.
Anwar said the investigation was not aimed at reopening old issues, but to serve as a lesson to prevent actions that could undermine institutions and betray the public trust from recurring.
Meanwhile, Communications Minister and Madani Government spokesperson Datuk Seri Fahmi Fadzil said today that the Cabinet had agreed for the RCI report on TH covering the period from 2014 to 2020 to be declassified and made public yesterday.
He said the report would also be tabled and debated during a special Dewan Rakyat sitting soon. — Bernama
