The Auditor-General (A-G) Tan Sri Ambrin Buang today said that that there is nothing stopping ministers from resigning due to alleged wrongdoings highlighted in his department’s annual report.

However, Ambrin stopped short of saying that such an action should be made mandatory, expressing that such a decision should also a personal one.

“Should they resign? It’s a personal decision lah. If they feel that they are wrong, then they resign lah. Who is stopping them from resigning?” he told reporters after a forum on the AG’s report.

“The word resign is an action done by an individual. If he or she is being pressured and they feel the pressure, then resigned lah. The decision is with him or her.

Asked if ministers should order heads of departments or those below them found to have done wrong to resign, Ambrin said it depended on the seriousness of the offence.

“If there is a prima facie case if the person is negligent and cannot be charged by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Comission or the police, as I said there is always disciplinary action,” he said.

Earlier today, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was quoted as saying that ministers in charge of ministries found to be excessive in their spending should resign.

“You know in Japan, when a plane crashes at an airfield, the transport minister has to resign.“In Malaysia, 'that’s not my business'. I hope to see more resignations…If the mistakes are not corrected then we should punish or they should resign,” said Mahathir.

Mahathir, who quipped that he himself “resigned” because he “failed”, added that A-G should be vested with more powers.

Meanwhile, when asked if he supported resignations, the MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Mohamed Abu Kassim said that everyone should “let the law take its course”.