The government will be taking action against malaysiakini for its April Fool's prank because "they tell lies", Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz told Parliament today.

"We will take action against malaysiakini ... not that we are panicking over something we have done wrong but because malaysiakini is a liar. How can we allow a 'station' to do something so wrong like this?" he told the House in his ministerial reply.

However, Nazri did not specify the kind of action to be taken against the website.

"I do not know (what form of action). That you have to ask (Minister of Energy, Water and Communications) Dr Lim Keng Yaik," he said when met at the Parliament lobby later.

Lim had earlier responded on April 2 to a question from a vernacular newspaper that whoever who had believed malaysiakini's April Fool's joke "... was a fool".

The issue was raised in the House this afternoon by Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) who said that malaysiakini's April Fool's joke has caused panic among Umno leaders when the parliamentarians were debating on corruption issues.

Replying to Lim's remark, Nazri said the government would not allow anybody "to tell lies".

Lim then told Nazri that the government should be thankful to malaysiakini for highlighting the rampant corruption issues.

"You should be more open-minded. This (April Fool's prank) is very normal. New York Times, even the New Straits Times had done it before. Why should you take action against malaysiakini but not declare your commitment to fight corruption," Lim said.

No immunity

Replying, Nazri said Lim must be 'crazy' as this was the first time he has heard anyone suggesting being thankful to a 'liar'.

"Why should we give immunity to malaysiakini? April Fool's joke should not be on this matter. The fact remains that they had told lies and we have to take action against them," he stressed.

Nazri added that April Fool's pranks were part of an alien culture which should not be adopted in this part of the world.

Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) then rebutted the minister saying that the government should not use 'April Fool is a western culture' as an excuse to continue being in a state of denial over the rampant corrupt practices.

"Our system is also full of western cultures. The countdown for the new year on every Jan 1 is also a western culture. I don't think this is a good enough excuse to deny everything," she said.

On April 1, malaysiakini published a April Fool's prank which 'claimed' that three ministers and one menteri besar would be charged over corruption.

This has caused a stir and Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail was reported to be furious over the prank, calling for action against malaysiakini.

However, Abdul Gani later said that his statement was misquoted by the media.

Malaysiakini had since defended its move stating that it was meant to stir a debate on the issue of corruption.