Who's the boss?

WHO is the boss in Parliament? That is the question on many people's mind now.

No one seems to know who ordered the ban on media access to the Parliament lobby on Tuesday, which prompted print, TV and online media to immediately unite and boycott lobby news coverage.

The ban not only caught journalists off guard but also Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abd Aziz, who is in charge of parliament affairs.

Both said they were in the dark about the ban.

Read the entire article here.

This took place last - in fact, it was one of the many incidents which prompted me to start this blog.

It is ridiculous! Reporters being banned from the Parliament lobby!!! Last week, it was allege that the reporters were apparently a threat to the security! What the...???

Now, no one wants to take the responsibility. There was a ban but no one is owning up to it. It is clear that on hindsight, it was a stupid decision. On top of that, it also caused embarrassment to the ruling party when its own members started bickering - very publicly, mind you - over it! The Minister-in-Charge of Parliament Affairs is having a war of words with the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman (read about it here).

Besides wondering whose brilliant idea it was to impose the ban, one wonders what prompted it in the first place. Is it because the press have not been too favourable in its reporting? It surely cannot be because they have been smuggling in weapons and bombs into the Parliament lobby.

As stated by Nanyang Siang Pau group chief editor Chong Tien Siong, “This restriction does not show respect for the work of journalists, especially in Parliament” (see here).

Malaysia boleh!