Taking a different view compared with other opposition politicians and observers on why was Madinah appointed when she had never done any auditing before, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said it is not as if she was becoming the accountant-general.
“The auditor-general assumes a different role from an accountant-general. The accountant-general is a professional accountant taking care of all the bookkeeping of the government, the spending and all that.
“The accountant-general must be professionally qualified. However, the auditor-general does not necessarily have to be. The defining criterion of the auditor-general is integrity,” the Amanah strategy director said, adding that while the accountant-general has the eagle eye to take care of all the numbers, the auditor-general has got to make sense of those numbers.
However, the former Kuala Selangor MP said Madinah’s objectivity in dealing with issues relating to the financial integrity of the government will ultimately be the main talking point following her appointment.
“The fact that she is appointed by the current PM, who is under a huge cloud due to several controversies, should not influence her independence with regard to her responsibilities.
“A question mark remains, nothing personal against her, but more to do with the fact that she is married to the Kepong Umno division chief who had publicly sworn his willingness to die for Najib previously,” Dzulkefly said referring to Madinah’s husband Rizuan Abdul Hamid.
He added that even though she was appointed by Najib, Madinah would still have to state her professional opinion in any executive counsel where she is advising the prime minister.
Madinah, who was secretary-general of the education ministry until she went on mandatory retirement from September last year, will take over from Ambrin Buang whose tenure as auditor-general expires today.
Chief Secretary to the Government Ali Hamsa said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V had consented to Madinah’s appointment upon the advice of the prime minister and following consultation with the Conference of Rulers in accordance with Clause (1) Article 105 of the Federal Constitution.
Madinah, 60, holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Political Science from Universiti Sains Malaysia as well as a Master of Science in human resource development and a doctorate in human resource management from Universiti Putra Malaysia.
In May 2013, she was transferred to the education ministry from the science, technology and innovation ministry, where she was also the secretary-general. She has been with the civil service for the past 35 years.