Again, the analyst sees parallels between Apandi Ali and Hasan. “There’s not much difference between these two. They are birds of a feather, appointed under similar circumstances.”
Apandi Ali, reminded Shahbudin the analyst, was appointed AG after his predecessor Abdul Gani Patail was sacked without notice. “Hasan came in after Chairman Nur Jazlan and three other PAC members were co-opted into the Cabinet and threw it into disarray for several months.”
“Both, Apandi Ali and Hasan, repealed the benefits of their positions amidst frantic investigations by a Special Task Force on 1MDB.”
Shahbudin was commenting on public fears that it would not be possible for the PAC to conclude on 1MDB on a definitive note unless the key remaining witnesses were called to testify as well.
The analyst noted that Hasan appears to be in a great hurry all of a sudden to bring the hearings on 1MDB to a screeching halt. “He has since announced that only two witnesses remain i.e. former 1MDB CEO Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and former 1MDB Chairman Mohd Bakke Salleh.”
Following the announcement, added the analyst, it appears that the PAC Report on various controversial matters involving 1MDB, and the matter of much public debate, would be completed and made known soon.
Not surprisingly, said the analyst, Hasan’s announcement has run into flak especially from Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, a member of the PAC. “Pua agrees that the PAC discussed the former 1MDB CEO and former Chairman being called but disclosed that the matter of closing the hearings after the two witnesses was not discussed by members.”
Shahbudin is not surprised that Pua was shocked by Hasan’s statement made on the basis that the PAC hearings on 1MDB can’t be going on indefinitely. “Pua was expecting several more witnesses to be called. They include Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, Penangite Jho Low and former 1MDB CEO Mohd Hazeem Abdul Rahman.”
“The decision to call Najib and Jho Low with the agreement of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) was made when Nur Jazlan, now Deputy Home Minister, was PAC Chairman.”
Umno Youth Chief Khairy Jamaluddin, recalled the analyst, also felt at that time that no closure was possible on 1MDB unless Jho Low was called as well by the PAC to testify.