Public Accounts Committee chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin says she has received a letter requesting that representatives from the national audit department be exempted from attending the committee’s meetings.
Mas Ermieyati said the letter was from Auditor-General Wan Suraya Wan Radzi and that she received it in March.
“It stated that representatives from the department should be excluded from attending PAC meetings held under Standing Order 77(1)(d).
“This move raises questions, as such a practice has never occurred under previous auditors-general,” the Perikatan Nasional Masjid Tanah MP said during the debate on the 2025 Auditor-General’s Report Series 2 in the Dewan Rakyat today.
She noted that in the context of PAC meetings or proceedings, the department was not the subject of an investigation.
“Instead, it acts as a source of technical information and a professional adviser to help the PAC better understand the audit findings.
“Their presence is not a conflict of interest but rather an institutional necessity to ensure the PAC functions effectively and with credibility.
“In fact, the department’s role within the PAC is clear – to provide professional and independent opinions,” she said.
Earlier, opposition chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan questioned the legality of Wan Suraya’s appointment as auditor-general, claiming that her status as a serving civil servant breached the Federal Constitution and could create a conflict of interest.
The 2025 Auditor-General’s Report Series 2, tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday, flagged issues such as RM460 million in government funds being spent on land deals, university tenders, and defence contracts between 2020 and 2024 without proper oversight.
It also found that a public hospital in Cheras awarded a RM25.64 million catering contract to a company that did not possess halal certification from the Islamic development department.
The army was also flagged for failing to collect RM162.75 million in penalties from a defence contractor that delivered armoured vehicles late.
