Harakahdaily.com, the official website of Islamic-based party PAS, has taken the use of multimedia one step further with the launch of the first web television in Malaysia next week.

The party's newspaper Harakah's editor, Zulkifli Sulong, told malaysiakini that Harakahdaily.com has been testing the technology on its site over the past two weeks.

It hopes to carry 15 minutes of TV news when it launches on May 3, World Press Freedom Day.

Currently being test run on the site are an interview with Terengganu Mentri Besar Abdul Hadi Awang about the state government's policy on 90 days' maternity leave for government employees, and other current issues.

The clip was about six minutes long and visitors can view the video almost immediately after clicking on the link.

[#1] Harakahdaily.com[/#] seeks to provide four or five news items each day. Apart from news, the online TV will also carry talk shows.

"We will provide news in both Bahasa and English," said Zukifli.

According to him, they have hired six people to start the TV project, which costs some RM20,000, mainly to purchase computer video editing devices and a video camera.

Admitting that many of the advertisers are scared to advertise on the website, which limited the financial resources of the operation, Zulkifli said they also need more time to enhance the content of the website to attract more visitors.

"Later on we hope to source for advertising when the content is ready and more people are expected to visit the website," he added.

Zukifli conceded that during its test runs, Harakahdaily.com has encountered a number of technical problems arising from the weak telecommunications infrastructure in the country, for example, the highly congested phone lines.

He pointed out that PAS' web TV is best viewed via Internet Explorer, Version 5.

Late last year, KeADILan had launched a web radio during the general elections campaign, but it lasted for about a month.

With PAS' latest initiative, it appears that the opposition parties in Malaysia have overtaken the Barisan Nasional component parties in facing up to the challenges of the multimedia era and mastering IT technology to promote their cause better.