Nur Jazlan, please don’t think too highly of yourself – TK Chua

I refer to Nur Jazlan’s comment on the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which according to him, must be held by the ruling party, the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

According to him, Malaysia still does not have a “true” two-party system and therefore it is not practical for the opposition to chair the PAC.

He then said that as a member of BN, he has “proven that a PAC chairman from the government side can do the job.” I take it to mean that his performance as the PAC chairman was more than exemplary.

Based on my long observations of Malaysian politicians, I have come to this hypothesis: the intelligence of most government MPs seems to vary inversely to the positions bestowed on them. The moment they are given higher positions of some significance, all logic and reason would elude them completely.

I think Nur Jazlan is no exception to this hypothesis.

First, I think Nur Jazlan must understand that PAC does not report to the executive branch of the government.

PAC is supposed to be part of the legislative oversight on the executive branch under our system of government.

Common sense would tell us we need a PAC that is unbiased, impartial and not beholden to the party leader, who is also the head of the government. But how could we achieve that impartiality when the chairman of the PAC and some of its members could be appointed members of the administration without any qualm?

Could the prime minister appoint the opposition members in the PAC as ministers or deputy ministers overnight? In fact, this very reason alone is sufficient for us to demand that PAC be headed by an opposition member.

Second, I think it is illogical for him to argue that the two-party system must be in place first before the chairmanship of the PAC can be held by the opposition.

If the true intent of the PAC is to provide oversights and checks and balances, the lack of a two-party system would have provided a more compelling reason for the PAC to be headed by the opposition.

When our two-party system is rudimentary and when our parliamentary practices are faulty, any additional instrument of checks and balances would be a bonus.

Therefore, a PAC headed by the opposition with the opposition members constituting the majority is certainly one such bonus.

Third, I think it is not very smart for Nur Jazlan to claim that he has proven that a PAC chairman from the ruling party can do the job.

This is because whatever his experience may be, he cannot impute it on others. ltimately, it is always the system and institution, not the person that will ensure transparency and robustness.

Also, as far as his performance is concerned, the jury is still out on him.

If he had really intended to see the light of his work as the PAC chairman, he should have declined the offer to move to the executive branch.

That would have been the true test of impartiality, character and leadership. The rest are just wall flowers.

* TK Chua reads The Malaysian Insider.