The ruling preventing journalists from being present at the Parliament lobby is meant to avoid situations where ministers and lawmakers are unable to give answers, or are misquoted, said two top government aides.

"We don't want because of the (media) ambush, where the minister or the MP, is caught in a situation where there is misinformation in their response," Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad - the aide of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak - told reporters today.

He added that sometimes the timing for journalists to seek comments from ministers is not right, as the ministers may not be able to give answers due to certain reasons.

Tengku Sariffuddin and Ibrahim Yahya - the aide of deputy premier Ahmad Zahid Hamidi - were speaking at an impromptu meeting with journalists at the media centre in Parliament.

Ibrahim said that in a media scrum, some journalists at the back may not be able to hear a minister's response properly or understand the context of the answer, thus leading to misreporting.

He also said describe media ambushes as unfair to MPs.

"Try to be fair to the MPs, if they come out from the Dewan Rakyat and you suddenly ask questions, they are blank (clueless)," Ibrahim said.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia on Tuesday made a ruling barring the media from the Parliament lobby, citing security concerns.

The media are thus restricted to the media centre, which is a floor below the House.

Media presence in the lobby has been an integral part of parliament coverage, allowing journalists to approach lawmakers and ministers to get a response on current issues.

Ibrahim however said there was no need for reporters to be at the lobby.

Tengku Sariffuddin also said that if lawmakers wanted to meet reporters, they would do so voluntarily, and that the media always had the option to call them.

To work around the ban, Ibrahim proposed that the media be placed in another room on the same floor as the parliament lobby together with a liason officer.

This liason officer he said, would help facilitate meetings between journalists and lawmakers.

Asked about the effectiveness of such a method in helping journalists question lawmakers, Ibrahim pleaded for journalists to give the idea a shot.

Tengku Sariffuddin also said that journalists had the option to wait for lawmakers at the parliament entrance, as well as the parking lot.