DAP slammed BN lawmaker Tiong King Sing for his suggestion to restrict the number of media personnel allowed in Parliament for security reasons.

Describing the suggestion as 'ridiculous' and 'not making sense', Thomas Su (DAP-Ipoh Timur) demanded that Tiong ( photo ) apologise to journalists covering the parliamentary session.

"Instead of reducing the number of journalists, he should have asked Parliament to stack up its security," he said.

"Was he implying the security force not able to perform their duty?

"This is a ridiculous statement and he should apologise to all the journalists for making statement as though they are a threat (to the Parliament). This is a very wrong statement.

"I don't see any of the reporters as a threat to me. He should apologise for ridiculing the media," he said.

Press freedom is a must in Parliament, Su emphasised.

Meanwhile, Lim Lip Eng (DAP-Segambut) urged Parliament to restrict the entourage size of ministers and deputy ministers.

"The whole ministry will be mobilised everytime a minister comes. There is shortage of parking lots and food.

"Sent only two senior officers, do not sent dozens of them. This is not making any sense," he said.

400 journalists turned up on budget day

In his Budget 2016 debate yesterday, Tiong urged Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to limit the number of journalists from each media organisation to four for security reasons.

He noticed 400 journalists turned up on Oct 23 when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak tabled the budget.

This compared with about 100 journalists showing up during ordinary parliamentary sessions, according to Tiong.

"The media are the eyes of Parliament but we cannot let everyone who claims to be from the media to enter the Dewan.

"We must look into this seriously," said Tiong as reported by The Star .