Pakatan Rakyat has expressed disappointment that acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein will be absent from a proposed briefing on the MH370 incident for Pakatan Rakyat MPs scheduled for today.
"We want the minister to brief, not some other minister," PKR deputy president Azmin Ali (left) said in a press conference at the Parliament lobby.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang lamented that Hishammuddin has "disappeared" in order to attend a defence summit in Hawaii today, which means he would not be able to brief Pakatan MPs.
The details of the briefing have yet to be confirmed even though Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim said last week it would be held today.
Hishammuddin, along with others, had previously briefed BN backbenchers on the MH370 crisis at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
'BN not serious'
Asked whether the briefing has been cancelled, Lim said that no details were given as to whether there was supposed to be a briefing in the first place.
"This shows that BN is not serious (about the matter)," Lim said.
Azmin meanwhile said that Hishamuddin "ran away" to Hawaii when the MH370 crisis was of international interest and not just national interest.
He also questioned the apparent contradiction between Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Shahidan Kassim and Hishamuddin's statements regarding the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on the the incident.
"Shahidan said RCI or Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) would only be after a black box is found. But Hishamuddin (in an interview with Utusan Malaysia) said that there is no need for a RCI or PSC after the black box is found," Azmin said.
'No response from Pakatan on time and place'
Meanwhile Shahidan said today that Pakatan Rakyat leaders did not suggest a time and location for a MH370 briefing to be given to their MPs by the government despite repeated requests from him as the parliamentary affairs minister.
In a press conference at the Parliament lobby, Shahidan said he had asked "top Pakatan Rakyat leaders" to send him a note with a preferred date and location for the briefing, but never got a response.
The briefing, which Shahidan originally said would take place today, will not take place as Acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein is in United States for a Asean defence summit.
Shahidan admitted that he did not know about Hishamuddin's commitment when he announced in Parliament that the briefing could be held today.
"But I have told the Pakatan leaders, send me a note so I can check back with the minister and even the prime minister, if they want, and fix a time when both sides are free," he said.
"I still have not closed the door. I urged them to give me a note and we can fix the dates. Whether it is tomorrow or whenever, I want to arrange for this briefing," he said.
He said that he had pursued the matter to the point of making "midnight calls" to some Pakatan leaders in order to follow up on the issue.
"I have asked them almost every day," he said.
Shahidan said that the issue should not be "politicised" and that he did not wish to politicise it himself. - Mkini
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