Parliament has limited the number of journalists covering its proceedings to three per agency.

This includes photographers and videographers.

In a statement issued today, Parliament's corporate communications department said the limit will be enforced starting next Monday.

"The decision was made due to the critical working space constraints while upgrading works to Parliament - expected to be completed in 2018 - are underway," the statement read.

At the beginning of this Parliament session, the media were all cramped into a single wing of the Parliament lobby to allow government officers to work on the opposite wing.

Previously, the media could work in both wings, with a dedicated press conference area on the right side.

In 2008, some 100 journalists staged a media boycott after Parliament cut off access to the lobby and limited entry to five media personnel per agency.

In protest, journalists from all print, online and electronic media have decided to only cover the proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat and boycott all press conferences or events held outside of the chamber.

This affected press conferences, including by then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and his then deputy Najib Abdul Razak.

The boycott ended a day later when the restrictions were lifted.