Mas Ermieyati the new PAC chief, Wong Shu Qi as vice-chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Masjid Tanah MP Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (pic) has been announced as the new Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman on Tuesday (April 4) morning, the Dewan Rakyat was told.

Speaker Datuk Johari Abdul, who was presiding over the sitting, also announced that Kluang MP Wong Shu Qi is the PAC vice-chairman.

The motion to appoint Mas Ermieyati and Wong was approved via a voice vote in Parliament when it was tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Mas Ermieyati is the second woman to head the PAC after Datuk Seri Noraini Ahmad in April 2019.

Noraini later resigned as the PAC chairman after being appointed the Higher Education Minister in March 2020.

She was replaced by former Ipoh Timur MP Wong Kah Woh, who was the previous PAC chairman from August 2020 before the dissolution of the 14th Parliament in October last year.

The PAC is a select committee under the purview of Parliament and it has the powers to examine the accounts of the government and public authorities. the auditor-general’s report and other matters deemed fit by the committee.

The PAC usually includes between six to 12 members who will be nominated by a selection committee.

It is also a Westminster Parliamentary system to scrutinise the findings of public audits.

The PAC can call up ministers, the public, civil servants and also other officials for questioning before the committee.