Arrival statement by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang, at Kuala Trengganu Airport on January 19, 1986 at 4.40 p.m.
Why has the General, Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin, fallen so fast in government esteem?
From the Prime Minister’s reply to the memorandum of Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin and Chooi Mun Sou on the BMF final report, it is very clear that the public esteem Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed had for the Auditor-General had evaporated.
Malaysians will remember that when the 2M leadership of Datuk Serl Dr. Mahathir and Datuk Musa Hitam first took office, they took credit for the great publicity in the press about the Auditor-General’s Reports on the various Federal and State Government financial accounts. Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir said this showed that the 2M government was very serious and sincere in its commitment to the principle of public accountability with regard to public funds.
Why then did the government esteem for the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin, fade so fast, that four years later, the Prime Minister used very harsh and hostile language in his correspondence with Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin?
In fact, the government’s re-evaluation of Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin’s role in government could be seen by the manner in which the Auditor-General’s Report on the 1982 Federal Government Accounts was treated.
Although the Auditor-General’s Report on the 1982 Federal Government Accounts was tabled in Parliament in November, over two and a half months have passed, but not a single newspaper or even Bernama had given any coverage of the Auditor-General’s Report on the 1982 Account.
By previous practice, the Auditor-General’s Report would have been splashed in the newspapers with banner headlines about the misappropriation, misue of public funds and unaccounted expenditures which were extensively mentioned in the 1982 Federal Accounts Report.
Why was there a virtual press black-out of the Auditor-General’s Report on the 1982 Federal Government Accounts? Is it because 1982 was the first full year of the 2M Government, and the extensive coverage of the Auditor-General’s Report on the 1982 Federal Government Accounts would have meant that there had been no difference between the 2M Administration and previous administrations?
The Malaysian public are entitled to know why Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin seems to have fallen so fast in government esteem, that even the 1982 Federal Government Accounts Reports had been ignored by press coverage so far.
I had suggested two weeks ago that Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin should be given another term of service as Auditor-General, as he is scheduled to retire in May this year. I hope Wednesday’s Cabinet could consider this matter, and show that the Cabinet could rise above narrow party or sectional considerations and in the national interest extend Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin’s term as Auditor-General.
This would be a great credit to Datuk Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, for it would show that although he is far from happy with Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin for personal reasons, he acknowledges Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin’s contribution and role as Auditor-General.