Non-MPs banned from holding PC in Parliament
Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia has banned non-MPs from holding press conferences at the media corner in the Parliament House lobby.
Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia has banned non-MPs from holding press conferences at the media corner in the Parliament House lobby.
He cited the press conference held by PKR Ampang MP Ampang Zuraida Kamaruddin and PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli last Thursday which exposed the alleged link between de facto Law Minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz and businessman Michael Chia.
Rafizi is not elected an elected representative.
Pandikar furnished the photographs of the press conference which he said should not have been held at the media corner.
He was speaking at a press conference at his parliament office today.
He said the verbal instruction, applicable immediately, is to prevent abuse of the area which has plaque carrying he words 'Parlimen Malaysia Sidang Media' (Parliament of Malaysia Press Conference) in the background.
Pandikar added that though Parliament is a restricted area, the public has been allowed to hold press conferences thus far as Malaysians have a culture of celebrating guests.
However, he feared that this practice will sully the Malaysian Parliament's good name if it continues.
"They (non-MPs) are not permitted to use the facilities at all," he said.
However, "outsiders" accompanied by MPs to the Parliament can still do so but not at the designated corner, Pandikar elaborated.
"When I look at the news and see non-MPs giving press conferences with the parliament logo in the background, it's embarrassing. No other Parliament in the world allows this.
"If they want to hold a press conference, they can, but stand at a different corner, and not at that facility.
He added that in the British House of Commons and Indian Parliament, reporters do not mingle with MPs like they do here.
Pandikar had earlier today after the press conference also received a petition initiated by news portal Agenda Daily seeking Parliament's intervention in the matter. The signatures were collected yesterday.
Petition came from reporters
The petition was signed by 76 reporters and photographers on duty at Parliament but was not signed by Malaysiakini reporters.
However, the speaker did not mention the petition and said that he has been mulling over it "for a long time".
Soon after the announcement in the Dewan Rakyat, an aide to PAS' Pokok Sena MP Mahfuz Omar who was assisting the MP during a press conference was stopped by a Parliament security guard from standing at the designated corner.
Persatuan Gerakan Kebangkitan Pendidik Kebangsaan (Pendidik) president Normala Sudirman (left) was also stopped from speaking after handing over a memorandum to Pakatan Rakyat MPs.
This despite Batu MP Tian Chua informing the guard that he would be responsible for what Normala says.
"This is the fourth year of the Parliamentary session and we are half way through, so why all this now? You figure it out," Chua told reporters when asked how he felt about the ban.
He added that public personalities add value to a press conference as MPs can only speak on their behalf and reporters can then accuse the latter of "making things up" without corroboration.
To this, a reporter retorted that the suggestion (for the ban)"came from us and MPs should respect that.
Rafizi: Parliament PC ban aims to silence me
Additional reporting by Aidila Razak
