The rationale behind the live telecast of the just-concluded Umno general assembly on state-owned RTM was to give "official recognition" to its new president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Information Minister Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir said today.

In a written parliamentary reply to Teresa Kok (DAP-Seputeh), the minister claimed that priority was given to the Umno meeting rather than Parliament proceedings although both are considered important because the viewers were more interested in the biggest ruling party's event.

"If more time has been given to the Umno assembly, it is because of its importance to confirm Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the party president and the people surely were keen to follow the debate at the Umno meeting under the new leadership," Abdul Kadir said.

He argued that RTM has given sufficient coverage on Parliament's proceeding to convey various messages about the sitting to the people.

In her question, Kok wanted to know why RTM provided live coverage of the Umno assembly while at the same time, no television stations are allowed to air proceedings of Parliament.

She also asked whether it meant that the Umno event was more important than the parliamentary session.

Illogical and ridiculous

Met later, the Seputeh MP said the minister's reply was "illogical and ridiculous" because live telecasts of Umno general assemblies were not new.

"The information ministry failed to justify the reason of the live telecast by saying that it was because of the new party president," she told malaysiakini at Parliament lobby.

She also questioned whether the state-owned television station was an instrument of Umno since other Barisan Nasional component parties were not accorded similar privileges of their party meetings.

"Most of the time, inflammatory speeches were made by Umno delegates during the meeting. Is that the message that they want to send to the people?" she asked, in an apparent reference to the recent controversial 'May 13 warning' made during the general assembly.

Kok said the ministry has elevated the status of Umno to above Parliament in its decision of providing live coverage.

"Umno is just a political party, whereas Parliament is a platform of decision-making and where laws are passed. Hence, it's more important that the people are better informed about what transpired in Parliament than at an Umno meeting," she stressed.

Costly telecast

She also cited instances of other state-owned television stations in the world such as the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) which give equal air time to ruling and opposition parties.

The DAP leader reiterated her party's call for parliamentary sittings to be telecast live, a proposal rejected by the information ministry on the ground that it will involve high cost.

Nevertheless, the ministry introduced a 30-minute programme aired over RTM which compiled an edited version of the daily proceeding in Parliament.

"Did Umno pay RTM for the live telecast of its general assembly since the ministry has said that live telecasting is costly?" Kok asked.