KUALA LUMPUR: Two former Cabinet members have potentially breached their ministerial oath of secrecy by disclosing confidential information in Parliament, says Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia (pic).

The Parliament Speaker said the ministerial oath requires a minister to not disclose any information learnt during their time in the Cabinet.

He was referring to statements made by former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former finance minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah while presenting their Parliamentary speeches on Budget 2017.

“You heard the things they said, you can assess whether those were things they learnt during their time as ministers,” he said.

Pandikar said Parliamentary immunity prevents any action from being taken on anything said during debate, but reminded MPs to be aware of the Official Secrets Act and the Sedition Act.

“It is all there, so even though you know something, you need to be careful as there is (Parliament) Standing Order 36 (12) and we need to keep certain things in confidence,” he said.

He added that it was a matter of ethics to keep Cabinet matters confidential and Parliamentarians could not use their position as a license to say what they please.-thestar