A parliamentary motion to discuss calls for reform in military-ruled Burma, which is to be debated this Thursday, has been shelved.

Parliamentarian Zaid Ibrahim (BN-Kota Bharu), who is the key proponent of the resolution, told malaysiakini that the motion - originally scheduled to be debated on the last parliamentary sitting day on April 28 - will be "put aside" for now.

Zaid said he was recently informed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz that the Burma motion would have to make way for more "important" government affairs.

The Kota Baru MP - who filed the motion last month as head of the Malaysian Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (as the country is called by the Burmese junta) - expressed his disappointment with the move when contacted yesterday.

"I can't say why it is not going to be debated exactly but I was told that there were other (more) important government business that needed to be discussed (in Parliament)," said a dejected Zaid.

"I am very disappointed as we (Malaysian parliamentarians) had gotten a momentum going and gained support from other parliaments in Asean, namely Singapore and the Philippines, towards our calls," he added.

Zaid is also chair of the Asean Inter-Parliamentarian Caucus on Democracy in Burma, a regional grouping of parliamentarians set up to press for democratic reforms in Burma.

More than one voice

The motion aims to discuss the continued detention of Burmese pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who would have been held under house arrest for two years come May 30.

It also seeks an endorsement from the Parliament that Burma be denied from holding the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) until its government releases all political detainees including Suu Kyi and moves towards restoring democracy in the country.

The 10-member Asean rotates its chair alphabetically and Burma is due to take over from Malaysia in June 2006.

Meanwhile, fellow Burma caucus member and parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang expressed "sheer disappointment" with the news.

"It is quite a shame. Malaysian parliamentarians had set the lead among Asean parliamentarians in calling for the denial of (Burma's) main agenda of chairing Asean. This was in the interest of Asean as a whole and for member countries individually," said the veteran politician.

"Malaysian members of parliament should remain in the forefront of the campaign to bring changes in Burma," he lamented.

Parliament independent?

The motion could possibly be resubmitted in Parliament at its next sitting to kick off on June 20.

But Lim said this could only happen if the Parliament was allowed to operate "free of influence from the executive (government)".

"I call on the premier to fulfill his promise, made after his election to the leadership, that the doctrine of separation of powers will be respected. Parliamentarians must be allowed to decide on its parliamentary business," said Lim, quoting a speech made by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Nov 3, 2003.

Lim warned that if Abdullah did not allow the motion - or any other private motions - time for debate it would not reflect well on his leadership, the Parliament and the country's reputation internationally.

He challenged Abdullah to allow the Burma motion to be debated - an act which the opposition leader described as a "critical test of democratic practice" - and to prove wrong the notion that the Parliament "toes the executive line".