On January 15, Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Aziz said he would propose the live TV telecast to the Cabinet.

Yesterday, Abdul Razak Ahmad of NST looks at the issue and asked: Are the goings-on in Malaysia’s Parliament good enough for television?

Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Aziz
"When Question Time goes live, I’m sure ministers will be forced to come in person to the Dewan Rakyat more often to reply. It’s healthier to discuss sensitive issues openly in Parliament rather than have these discussions go underground and spread via SMS or by whisper campaigns."

Kota Baru MP Zaid Ibrahim
"Sorry to say this, but some of our ministers are so entrenched in their comfort zones that they feel they don’t need to be accountable to MPs in their replies. They take us for granted and we want to change that."

Kemaman MP Ahmad Shabery Cheek
"It was not something planned. It is a by-product of the Prime Minister’s strategy for cultivating more openness and transparency following the 2004 general election."

Director of the Institute of the Malay World and Civilisation at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin
"Perhaps some won’t be happy until we telecast Cabinet meetings live, but the very presence of MPs live on television is an accountability exercise in a sense."

Nazri was reportedly seen as very determined to ensure the live exercise to be put into practice, but, WHEN?

It’s like a cheque without a date.

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