Media Statement by Liew Chin Tong in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 5^th May 2008: 

Let MPs decide on live parliamentary telecasts

The decision to broadcast parliamentary proceedings should be left to Members of Parliament through the mechanism of a select committee.

On Saturday, 3 May 2008, Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek had said that the Cabinet had decided to continue with the live telecast, but could stop the broadcast at any time. He said, “This should be treated as a last chance for all MPs. We have to protect the (image of) Parliament”.

When asked by The Star if a full-day live telecast might wear down MPs and prevent a repeat of the chaotic situation, Shabery said: “If Parliament is presumed to be a circus, the question of people running out of energy does not arise. … Clowns, they have energy all the time, no matter how many hours.”

Datuk Shabery should bear in mind that MPs are not schoolboys and should not be treated as such. MPs should not be threatened with patronizing “I will take away your toys if you misbehave” sort of threats. It is also presumptuous for the Minister to denigrate his Parliamentary colleagues in such a manner.

Parliament is where MPs should perform their duties in order to make laws, check on the government of the day, and ensure that the use of every cent of taxpayers’ money is justified. Therefore, live telecasts of parliamentary proceedings are not ‘toys’ for MPs to play with. It is the right of Malaysians to see publicly-funded MPs in action.

Datuk Shabery’s reply to my parliamentary question on the subject on 30 April 2008 clearly showed that the live telecast of parliamentary proceedings is being branded as an example of openness and transparency in the mainstream media, which is “in line with the democratic practices of our country”.

“Langkah Kementerian Penerangan menyiarkan secara langsung persindangan parlimen bermula penggal kali ini pada 30 April 2008 melalui RTM1 tanpa tapisan membuktikan sifat keterbukaan kerajaan dan ketelusan media arus perdana selari dengan amalan demokrasi negara. Siaran langsung 30 minit bagi sessi soal-jawab Dewan Rakyat ini turut disiarkan melalui Radio KLASIK Nasional dan laman web Kementerian.”

To make the live telecast of parliamentary proceedings meaningful, I propose the following measures to be taken by the Government with Parliament’s approval:

1. The Ministry of Information should immediately extend the live telecast from 30 minutes to the full 1 ½ hours of Question Time, in line with international norms. All mature Westminster Parliaments such as United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and even South Africa broadcast their entire Question Time segment on television.

2. The Ministry of Information should identify and allocate a radio frequency for the broadcast of the entire proceedings as well as on the Internet, as both involve minimal cost and manpower requirments.

3. I call on the Government, through the Minister of Information, to move a motion in Parliament to establish a Parliamentary Select Committee, consisting of Members from both sides of the divide and preferably from both Dewan Negara and Dewan Rakyat, to study the parameters, measures and methods of parliamentary telecasts.

When the British Parliament decided in principle to telecast its proceedings back in 1989, the Select Committee on Televising of Proceedings of the House spent a year on studying, planning and implementing such a move on behalf of Parliament. The Committee eventually contracted out the service through an open tender process. The renamed Committee continues to exist to this day as the Broadcasting Etc Select Committee.

A similar setup exists in the Australian Parliament in the form of the Joint Committee (of Senators and House of Representatives) on the Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings.

As far as promises of openness and transparency are concerned, the handling of the issue -- live telecasts of parliamentary proceedings – will be a litmus test for Datuk Shabery, as well as the Government.

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* Liew Chin Tong, MP for Bukit Bendera