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SHAH ALAM – Barisan Nasional (BN) members of Parliament will be briefed on the Tabung Haji (TH) Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report ahead of Parliament's special sitting next week.
The briefing scheduled for Aug 10 at 5pm at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur (WTCKL) is aimed at helping BN lawmakers understand the report’s findings, identify key issues and prepare the coalition’s position ahead of the parliamentary session on Aug 11.
Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan said the coalition is expected to focus on discrepancies between clean audit reports issued during BN's administration and later findings that revealed a RM4.1 billion deficit.
Ahmad, who will also attend the briefing, said the session would provide guidance to BN backbenchers on matters to be raised during the debate.
BN currently has 16 backbenchers who could participate in the debate, including eight ministers, five Cabinet members and one deputy speaker.
“The briefing will provide information on the main contents of the report, key points that should be highlighted and the narrative that BN intends to present during the parliamentary session,” he told reporters after attending Sinar’s “Program Interviu” at the Karangkraf headquarters here.
Ahmad said TH had received clean audit opinions from the National Audit Department (NAD) during BN’s administration between 2014 and early 2018, a fact that should be taken into consideration.
“Questions remain over the RM4.1 billion deficit identified by PwC following its investigation. BN MPs need to examine why PwC’s findings differed from the earlier NAD audit assessment and seek clarification on the reasons behind the discrepancy,” he said.
He said lawmakers should also determine whether the RM10 billion deficit identified during the Pakatan Harapan administration was due to misappropriation or largely the result of market conditions.
According to Ahmad, the stock market decline following the 2018 change of government affected TH’s investments, particularly in listed companies.
“At the time, the stock market experienced a significant decline due to several factors, including concerns over political instability following BN’s defeat after a long period in government and the abolition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which raised concerns over government revenue,” he said.
He added that then finance minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement that Malaysia’s debt stood at RM1.1 trillion, compared with previous estimates of around RM858 billion, had also weighed on market sentiment.
The decline in the benchmark stock index from around 1,900 points affected the value of TH’s investment holdings, including blue-chip shares. Ahmad said similar impacts were also felt by other institutions such as Felda.
“Therefore, one of the key questions BN MPs should examine is whether there is any evidence presented by the RCI panel, the Religious Affairs Minister or those supporting this view that any part of the RM10 billion was due to misappropriation, rather than losses caused by the decline in the stock market,” he said.
He urged BN lawmakers to conduct thorough research before making statements during the parliamentary debate.
