DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang called on both ruling and opposition members of parliament to demonstrate their spirit of reform by supporting a move to have live broadcasts of parliamentary sittings.

"Each and every member of parliament should be allowed to speak his or her mind without being subject to the party whip or discipline," Lim said, adding that he was disappointed that Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs - who dominate 90 percent of the House - had been silent over the issue.

He said BN parliamentarians should be at the forefront of parliamentary reform to enable the body to play a leading role in resolving issues of national importance.

He said the DAP was prepared to undertake live webcasts of parliamentary proceedings through the Internet if the party could obtain a start-up grant of RM500,000 from the government.

"If the government is serious about live telecasts of parliament as an important step to open up a new era of good governance, accountability and transparency, then it should be prepared to offer a free television franchise to those who are prepared to provide this public service" said Lim

Lim brought up the issue of parliamentary live telecasts in his list of proposed reforms for the House during his visit there early last month. Lim is expected to be named as the new parliamentary opposition leader when parliament resumes sitting on May 17.

Thai situation

His proposal was rejected by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz - who oversees parliamentary affairs - who said the broadcasts would be an opportunity for the opposition parties 'play to the gallery'.

Information Minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir also rejected the proposal saying it was too costly to telecast parliamentary sittings live.

On another matter, the DAP chairperson said the Thai government should brief Asean on what actually happened at its southern border.

He said that as an Asean member, Thailand should inform its neighbours on the incident that left more than 100 people dead, including its soldiers.

The Asean foreign ministers should meet and discuss the matter so that the neighbouring countries would have a clearer picture on what had happened there, he said.

The information was vital to all the countries to keep their nations calm, he added.

He said the details about those driving the insurgency were unclear and some reports said the attacks pointed to either a growing separatist movement, a regional terror group movement or poverty.