Shabery: If MPs throw slippers, shoes, we'll all see

Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said his push to extend the airtime in Parliament by RTM was to meet the demands of the people to make the national news channel more fair.

"If before this, people said that RTM is only used to air the faces of government leaders, it's not so anymore.

"This is because during the live telecast, opposition MPs often ask many questions, therefore they would also get publicity.

"Some times they may even get more airtime than government leaders because there is no fixed time for government and opposition to speak (in Parliament)," he said in an interview published in Mingguan Malaysia today.

Shabery (left) said the extension of airtime from 30 minutes to 90 minutes during Question Time in Parliament was also to promote transparency in the house.

"If at that time they (MPs) throw slippers or shoes, we will all see," he was quoted as saying.

Shabery had first introduced the 30-minute live telecast when he was briefly information minister in 2008 but this was later amended by his successor Rais Yatim.

Under Rais, the 30-minute live telecast continued but the focus was on government minister providing answers and the telecast would cut to interviews with government MPs when the opposition ask their questions.

"Now, I would like to provide the opportunity once more to MPs, regardless whether they are from the government or opposition, to use this channel to help the development of this nation," he said in the interview.

However, Shabery acknowledged that his government colleagues had questioned the move when it was first introduced it in 2008, pointing out that opposition MPs had deliberately stalled in Parliament to hog airtime.

'Rakyat will judge'
'But I am of the opinion that in the end the rakyat will judge. The rakyat will see what is presented by the government and opposition and how the MPs behave when issues are raised," he said.

After the 90 minutes, Shabery said the remaining session would be aired on the internet.

"We have to air the remaining session on the internet due to constraints as we only have two (national) television channels," he said in the interview.

Furthermore, he said a new television channel to only air the parliamentary session was impractical as it will be another analog transmission channel while the country is at the moment in the process of transitioning to digital signals.

Furthermore, he said setting up a new channel would cost between RM200-RM300 million.