Prime Minister asked to intervene to ensure the immediate presentation to Parliament of Auditor-General’s Reports for the 1982 and 1982 Federal Government Accounts

by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, in Petaling Jaya on Friday, Oct. 25 1985:

Prime Minister asked to intervene to ensure the immediate presentation to Parliament of Auditor-General’s Reports for the 1982 and 1982 Federal Government Accounts

I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, expressing my grave concern at the delay in the presentation to Parliament of the Auditor-General’s Reports for the 1982 and 1983 Federal Government Accounts.

In my letter to the Prime Minister, I urged the Prime Minister to personally look into the matter and to direct the immediate tabling of the two Reports, in keeping with the 2M Government’s pledge on an open, accountable and efficient administration.

Under the Finance Procedure Act, the Treasury was given seven months to prepare for audit the Annual Financial Statement, and an efficient financial and audit system should be able to complete both processes not more than 12 months after the completion of the financial year. This means that the Auditor-General’s Report for 1982 should have been tabled in Parliament in early 1984 and the Auditor-General’s Report for the 1983 Federal Government Accounts should have been tabled in early 1985, it is already October 1985.

I understand that both the Auditor-General’s Reports for the 1982 and 1983 Federal Government Accounts have in fact been ready for quite some time, and in this case, there is no reason or justification for the Government to hold up their tabling in Parliament.

I suggest that the Government, on receipt of the Auditor-General’s Report, should table it in Parliament within 30 days, as the Auditor-General’s Report is meant for Parliament to which the Auditor-General is answerable.