Stand up for fairness, Mr Speaker

 

It is the duty of the Speaker of the House, Azhar Azizan Harun, to ensure fairness, even on media representation. (Bernama pic)

A meeting of Parliament long awaited by the whole country is about to get under way. There’s much to be discussed after the last meeting which ended on Dec 29 last year.

Over the past seven months, we have had a state of emergency, numerous lockdowns of various kinds, a healthcare system on the verge of collapse and, as of yesterday, more than 17,000 infections in a day.

What’s worse, we now have amassed a cumulative total of a million Covid-19 cases. One out every 33 Malaysian has been infected.

That’s a million reasons why the people need to know what Parliament is about to discuss, what problems are examined and what solutions are put forward.

But Free Malaysia Today will not be there to tell Malaysians about it.

Despite the pressing need for information, Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Azizan Harun has seen fit to isolate millions of Malaysians, both inside and outside the country, from the action inside the House.

He has only invited a handful of media to cover the meeting, leaving out Free Malaysia Today – one of the top three news portals in Malaysia – and the Malay Mail, the online version of one of the oldest newspapers in the country.

Between them, these two portals reach millions of readers. But these readers will not be served.

Instead, newspapers with much smaller readerships have been invited. Why, even a non-media organisation, the Perikatan Nasional Backbenchers Club, has been invited.

The excuse that the media has to be limited, to minimise Covid-19 risk, does not hold water, considering that there is space aplenty in the media centre to accommodate more than 100 people.

Instead, only 72 have been allowed, of which 28 are from RTM and 12 from Bernama. The remaining 32 are from media selected by parliament officials.

Why do we need 28 people from RTM and 14 from Bernama? Anyone on the street will tell you that they can get most of their information from news portals.

Besides, most of those from RTM will not even occupy the same area as other media personnel, but are stationed in a special room for radio and TV telecasts.

What is the real reason to deny a top news portal like FMT the opportunity to fulfil its role as a member of the parliamentary democratic process, and to carry out its duty to inform the public at large?

Free Malaysia Today has always provided unbiased reporting of parliamentary affairs as well as news in general.

The speaker himself is well cognizant of FMT’s reach, as well as that of the other portals.

In his earlier incarnation as Art Harun, blogger and columnist extraordinaire, he often occupied a prominent and generous amount of media space, propounding his views with wit and humour and often taking up the cudgels in defence of the oppressed.

Could we appeal to that Art Harun now, he of the lofty ideals?

So far, our appeals to Parliament House have only brought forth total silence, while the Speaker, when contacted, could only say that “we are living in very unfair time (sic)”.

Agreed, life can be unfair. But it is your duty, as the Speaker of the House, to strive for fairness.

That, Mr Speaker, is the art of the matter. - FMT