DEWAN DISPATCHES: The Parliament needle and the damage done to the Press

MEDIA PROTEST NO ACCESS: When the barricades went up in the Parliament building this morning, the cameras went down. By the afternoon, the media was no longer barred from the Parliament lobby. Read the story here. - NST picture by ABD RAHIM RAHMAT

DEWAN DISPATCHES: The Parliament needle and the damage done to the Press

For a sanctum that exalted formality, regulations and adequate notice, the stop signs that came guarded with security personnel appeared rudely and abruptly, and without notice, just like those police barricades erected in a moment’s notice to dilute crowd escalation to deter the uncontrollable demonstrations or riots. However sincere the motive of the power-that-be was in imposing this unprecedentedly nauseous ruling, the barricades were another needling slap to the Press and an uncomfortable finger-pointer that they should only act as an adjunct to the authorities.

2008/06/24

DEWAN DISPATCHES: The Parliament needle and the damage done to the Press

By : Azmi Anshar

DEWAN RAKYAT, June 24:

For a sanctum that exalted formality, regulations and adequate notice, the stop signs that came guarded with security personnel appeared rudely and abruptly, and without notice, just like those police barricades erected in a moment’s notice to dilute crowd escalation to deter the uncontrollable demonstrations or riots. However sincere the motive of the power-that-be was in imposing this unprecedentedly nauseous ruling, the barricades were another needling slap to the Press and an uncomfortable finger-pointer that they should only act as an adjunct to the authorities.

In the morning, reporters were road blocked by a tape, bright red in colour strung across the width of the lobby and at all points where they can access the lobby freely – from their operation centre and from the canteen. To add to the condescension, a signboard blandly states this affront as “Ruang media khas” (Special media section). It was against this metaphoric quandary that all journalists doing their jobs in Parliament, young and old and rookie and veteran, were in unison in their indignation. Apart from these restrictions, press secretaries and aides to ministers and MPs were not allowed the widely practised distribution of written replies to reporters at the lobby, further inconveniencing everybody’s work.

The barricades also reflected how badly the journalists felt insulted to a ruling so unnecessary. It was terrible enough for the Malaysian Press to fend off the condemnation from politicians of all stripes and the hateful bile in the blogs that passes off as media criticism, but to be stopped and told that they have to act as functionaries was too much to bear.

Initially, resentful eyes were unfairly trained on Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the Minister in charge of Parliament, but after he denied that the barricades were his doing and the Press gave him the benefit of the doubt, the fault line steered towards the Speaker, Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, and it turned out that it was he who indeed ordered the barricades, on top of a limit to five reporters per media organisation who can enter Parliament at any time (This was apparently rescinded later in the afternoon as media personnel entered without questions).

Veteran reporters covering the Parliament beat for decades may not know about what other people think of the Speaker’s ruling but in their minds, it was like the veritable new broom – a new Speaker who tries hard to stamp his authority against a very sceptical opposition crowd and press.
However, the barricades were bizarrely removed hours later, just as abruptly as they were erected, by Bung Radin Moktar, the BN Backbencher’s Club deputy chairman. Bung Moktar’s unconventional act could be perceived in two ways – he was brazenly defying the Speaker’s ruling or he was at his populist worst. "We think the media has a role to play without any obstruction. We were not told about this so we are removing it. We have no permission but we are doing it anyway," Bung Moktar intoned as he removed the barricades.

Either way, most reporters refused to cross the line out of respect for the earlier boycott they immediately initiated when they were confronted with the barricades. To underscore the principle, reporters refused to cover a BN meeting purportedly to discuss the SAPP’s bid to move a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minister apart from a Pakatan Rakyat press conference to discuss the Kuala Lumpur City Draft plan. The PR politicians quickly moved their press conference to the media operations centre but that didn’t help: standing together, the reporters told the PR people that no coverage would be given. Reporters will only dutifully cover debates or whatever was raised “inside” the House.

Why had it come to this? Why impose abnormal restrictions against the Press when House meetings had proceeded peacefully and untowardly for decades? When had the press created or instigated trouble in Parliament? For one thing, the enlargement of the Opposition representation inside the House to 82 against the 140 meant more rebel rousers of all persuasions who bring with them streetwise savviness and the value of creaming a situation for all its worth. Like bringing in wives of ISA detainees, activists and handicapped persons to literally demonstrate at the lobby. What followed suit was commotion, congestion and a lively free-for-all marketplace to push incendiary issues b ut that was the politicians’ doing, not the Press.

The Speaker, in the last meeting, did raise the spectre of this unruly spectacle and he raised it again today, remarking on a lobby that had been treated as a democratic “neutral zone” – a Hyde Park-like locale where activists, reformists, advocators, propagators, procurers, panderers, every Jack-of-all-trades peddler with an eloquent or tawdry sales pitch push their political wares. The Speaker had also took note of the slew of protests, demonstrations, press conferences, confrontations, shouting matches, badge, pamphlet and unauthorised circular distributions. He didn’t particularly approve of them.

While he imposed restrictions to the Press, there was no word yet on whether Pandikar Amin intends to ban the lobby as a free-for-all political marketplace. The Speaker claimed that he wrote to editors of various media organisations of the five-only reporters’ limit and he was waiting for a response on whether they want more people to cover proceedings. “If they do, then they should submit a request detailing their reasons," he said.

One of the Speaker’s reasoning was that there was no telling who could enter under the pretext of being a member of the media, especially so during a tense verbal altercation with Fong Po Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah), where he rebuked MPs for not adhering to Standing Orders, of detouring from the issues at hand and raising irrelevant topics. “Wait first, be patient," he admonished the MPs who tried to raise the Press restrictions in a rather long, pedantic lecture on the need to not misuse the application of the Standing Orders. The Speaker chided MPs who went out of line, including not seeking his permission to speak and facing him first before being allowed to speak. Fong remained unrepentant, insisting that she had been unfairly reprimanded by the Speaker, a situation she described as “uncalled for.”

The Speaker then sought the help of Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) to explain the need to comply with House rules. Instead, a smiling Karpal, when he was permitted to speak, quoted Standing Orders 90 (4) which he gave back to the Speaker. “You have the discretion allow the media to operate freely. In my 26 years experience in this august House, never before have I witnessed such a restriction,” Karpal opined.

The Speaker wasn’t about to be punctured by Karpal’s mild harangue, citing the historic presence of 82 opposition MPs as “unchartered territory” that forced him to review all regulations pertaining to House security and access to non-relevant people. He even cited the episode that the village folks from his constituency can even quote the Standing Orders, much to the amusement of MPs.

For now, brownie points may be given to the Speaker’s reasoning to limit to five reporters a media organisation can deploy but wait – he seemed to have skirted on the imposition of the barricades against the Press, which he somehow did not mention. Just wait till he hears about Bung Moktar’s bizarre escapade.