Parliament ruling for journalists: The other side of the story

Parliament Deputy Speaker, Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar says the new ruling on journalist in Parliament was decided following the chaotic scenes during the last session of parliament in the lobby.

In the last session, the lounge became a haven for all sorts of demonstrations that upset the Speaker, including one by an NGO representing handicapped people who were upset with Independent MP Ibrahim Ali for belittling wheelchair-bound Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor).

The lobby was the scene of heckling and shouting when a mob of 30 handicapped persons confronted Ibrahim and demanded that he apologise to Karpal. The lobby was also used by wives of Internal Security Act detainees to hold press conferences to highlight the plight of their husbands and also distribute badges and pamphlets protesting the ISA.
This prompted Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to sound out to MPs that the lobby was not the place for these kinds of demonstrations and warned that he would do something about it.