Minister in Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz today turned 'mediator' in a spat between members of Parliament and New Straits Times , asking his colleagues in the Dewan Rakyat to resolve their differences with the editors of the English-language daily.

Winding up on the Members of Parliament (Remuneration) (Amendment) Bill 2005, he said: "I don't take the side of MPs, I don't take the side of the media ... both have a strong case ... but it will not benefit anyone if we continue to argue."

He said the crux of the matter has nothing to do with press freedom - rather, it is that MPs see the NST reports as being unfair to them.

"Just because we're irritated by mosquitos, we shouldn't burn the mosquito net ( kalau marah nyamuk, jangan bakar kelambu )... we have to find the 'mosquitoes'," he said, advising MPs to end the war of words.

He suggested that the affected MPs should arrange a meeting with NST editors "for everyone's sake".

NST and its group editor-in-chief Kalimullah Hassan had their journalistic credibility questioned in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, adding to criticism levelled at them since a commentary was published last week.

Backbenchers' Club chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad (BN-Johor Bahru) and parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) have been among members who have taken part in the often-heated debate.

Nazri, who has oversight of parliamentary affairs, would not support Lim's suggestion to refer the editors to the parliamentary privileges committee.

He said the image of Dewan Rakyat would be tarnished if NST declines to attend the hearings called by the committee.

"I am worried the Parliament will be humiliated if the media - when asked to attend the hearing - does not want to come. We don't have right to summon them, unlike the court. It is not necessary to create a confrontational situation," he said.

He said the country still does not have a culture where people respect the Parliament or are willing to attend committee proceedings on request.

'Criticism fair'

However, Lim corrected him, saying the privileges committee does have a right to summon people but that "it is a matter of whether or not we should exercise that right".

"We don't want to punish anyone. The reason anyone is asked to attend a hearing is to co-operate (with the committee)," Lim said.

Referring to a NST report today , he challenged the daily to list in detail the "vitriol" that he had allegedly poured on the newspaper during yesterday's debate.

"None of substantive issues I raised were reported by the NST today... only that I joined in the 'tirade' and 'feast of vitriol' against NST ," he said angrily, also denying that he had joined in any such tirade led by Shahrir.

"My criticism of NST is fair and can bear scrutiny and audit."

He said the privileges committee should act to uphold the dignity of Parliament.

"It should identify which MPs have brought Parliament into public ridicule and contempt because of irresponsible statements over the past months," he said.

He said the committee should also identify the media reports that have brought Parliament into disrepute because of baseless allegations.

Lim was interrupted several times by BN MPs who advised him not to talk about issues that had been discussed at length yesterday.

Deputy Speaker Lim Lim Si Cheng also reminded him several times not to divert from the bill.

Lim, however, maintained that his speech was relevant and that he was discussing an important issue.

Lim outraged

The debate on the issue began last Wednesday in Parliament when Lim called attention to a commentary in NST written by the newspaper's senior editor Zainul Arrifin column, 'Our MPs are not ready for prime-time TV' .

He wanted to highlight the "deplorable" comments made by some BN MPs, which had brought the House into disrepute.

His action was grossly misrepresented by the NST in its front-page report the next day, which was accompanied by a commentary by Kalimullah, entitled 'Column was fair comment' .

The front-page report with the headline 'Humiliated MPs attack NST - DAP's Kit Siang leads with supports from BN members' , was accompanied by the photographs of four MPs - Lim, Ronald Kiandee (BN-Beluran), Mat Yasir Ikhsan (BN-Sabak Beram) and Badruddin Amirudin (BN-Jerai) - and the quartet were depicted as 'untouchables'.

This has led to an irate Lim to demand Kalimullah to publish the opposition leader's lengthy rebuttal on NST's front-page as well as an apology but this was ignored by the newspaper.

Instead a report based incompletely on Lim's letter appeared on page 4 of the tabloid's Friday edition.