The Malaysian Parliament Backbenchers Club chairperson Mohd Zin Mohamed said he supports live telecast of the debates in the House as it would expose the public to the weaknesses of opposition representatives.

Speaking to malaysiakini last week, the recent appointee said if the sittings were aired o­n television, the public would see the true performance of opposition MPs, which he described as "nothing outstanding".

"Their arguments are nothing but full of slander and misleading statements," said Mohd Zin who took over the Backbenchers post from Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis, now finance minister II o­n Dec16.

"Their argument (on issues) is always based o­n bits and pieces of information from which they later draw their own conclusion (and fashion it) for government bashing.

"Nothing is constructive at all," he claimed.

A live telecast of parliamentary sittings would be best for people to judge these opposition MPs' performance for themselves, added the Shah Alam MP.

Political platform

He claimed that most of them fail to differentiate the Parliament from the ceramah (public talk) and end up using the country's highest legislative institution as their political platform.

"Unlike them, we (in Barisan Nasional) are accountable for what we say because we know we are elected representatives.

"As an MP, I would be very happy if my speech can be viewed by many people," said Mohd Zin, an engineer by profession.

He said the matter of live coverage had been brought up before but the Information Ministry had cited high cost as a hindering factor.

Even so, he said the issue of information being blocked from the public did not arise as the media are free to cover the sittings.

"Even without live coverage, people can still get the gist of the debate from newspapers and television," he said.

BN's strengths

Asked about the strengths of BN MPs, Mohd Zin said they are focused in their debates because they are guided by the government policy, particularly the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3).

"What we do is to provide constructive criticism o­n the 10-year plan (2001-2010) especially o­n its delivery system," he said.

Fellow BN parliamentarians are encouraged to do this as weaknesses in implementation of the policy will prove unfavourable to the government, he added.

On the regular absence of some MPs especially those at the end of their political career Mohd Zin said there should not be any excuse for not attending the sittings.

"Parliamentarians must be aware that they are representing their constituencies, and it is very unfortunate for the voters if their representatives failed to extend their voices in Parliament.

"As long as the person is an elected representative, he or she has to serve the duty. Regardless of whether he is a former minister or a first-timer in the Parliament, he must uphold the quorum and discharge his duty to his best ability."

Asked o­n the outlook for the next general election, Mohd Zin is confident that BN will be doing better than their 1999 performance.

"Umno is much stronger than before as most of the Malays are making a comeback to the party," he claimed.

Anwar forever

Asked whether former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim will continue to be a factor in the coming election, Mohd Zin said "Anwar will be an issue forever".

"But that is an old issue. I think most people are getting more rational now," he said without elaborating.

"The opposition can always claim that they can capture more states such as Kedah, but I believe that it just speculation," he said.

After the 1999 general election, PAS, Keadilan and DAP secured 42 out of 193 seats in the Dewan Rakyat, the highest number ever won by an opposition front.