The Dewan Rakyat went into a tizzy today when the Information Ministry's parliamentary-secretary Zainuddin Maidin stood up and told members of parliament (MPs) that the country's official radio and television station, RTM, was biased towards the government.

"I admit it, we are biased towards the government. But so what?" said Zainuddin to the cheers of government backbenchers and jeers from the opposition.

Zainuddin was responding to an additional question posed by Barisan Nasional MP for Rompin Jamaluddin Jarjis who questioned RTM's role in ensuring the rakyat received the correct information.

"What we do is simply expose and correct facts that have been twisted by the other side," Zainuddin said.

Jamaluddin, who is also the chairperson of the Bankbencher's club, claimed the opposition had fed rural villagers wrong information by twisting facts and slandering the government and its leaders.

The government has a responsibility to ensure the

rakyat are given the right information, as it was not only the foreign media which twist facts but also the opposition, he added.

Zainuddin replied that RTM tried its best to relay the true facts of a story whenever such a confusion arose.

'We are fair'

Citing an example, Zainuddin said, "We screened Mahfuz's (PAS MP for Pokok Sena) statement saying Umno leaders were thieves. True or not?"

To which Mahfuz shot up and replied, "It is true they (Umno) are thieves and that's why so many of them are rich."

As tension mounted, Deputy Speaker Lim Si Cheng intervened and allowed Zainuddin to continue with his reply.

"When the deputy Mentri Besar of Kelantan praised Putrajaya and labeled the Mahazalim (pro-reformasi) website as rubbish, didn't we screen it?" continued Zainuddin.

"When Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Aziz Nik Mat said God had opened Dr Mahathir's heart, we screened that as well. We are fair," he added.

Upholding truth

Zainuddin also challenged PAS MP for Parit Buntar Hassan Ali to deny that he (Hassan) had labeled the director of the International Islamic Univeristy Malaysia (IIUM) as " sampah " (rubbish).

He was referring to Hassan's comments following the university's official opening by the prime minister recently. RTM had reportedly aired the opposition MP's comment.

Hassan responded by daring Zainuddin to repeat his allegations outside the House.

"I am not afraid of repeating my statement outside. We have done everything we can to uphold the truth and dismiss whatever confusion there is," replied Zainuddin.