Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi did not instruct the motion on Burma to be withdrawn in Parliament as reported in the media.

Instead, the premier had only asked Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz to withdraw himself from the parliamentary caucus on Burma and to recuse himself from debating the motion.

This was because Nazri's participation in the debate of the motion can be construed as representing the government's support for the motion on Burma.

Nazri is a founding member of the parliamentary caucus and a senior minister in Abdullah's cabinet.

"The Myanmese military junta had put pressure on the Malaysian government by accusing it of violating the Asean principle of non-interference in supporting the move of Malaysian parliamentarians to mobilise Asean-wide parliamentary support to deny the 2006 Asean chair to Myanmar," said Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang today.

Myanmar is the military junta-given name to Burma.

He added that it was as a result of this complaint and pressure from the Burmese government that Abdullah had directed Nazri to withdraw from the caucus.

"This was fully explained by Nazri in Parliament on April 27," added Lim in a statement.

Prior to this clarification, malaysiakini, and several other media, had reported that the motion on Burma was withdrawn following an instruction from Abdullah. The online daily has since published a correction to the report.

Spoiled by the leaking roof

Lim also said that Nazri had explained to the Parliament that although the government could not be seen as supporting the motion, it nevertheless would not stop the parliamentarians from debating the matter if MPs had completed all government business for the day and still had time to debate the motion.

"Under the circumstances (Backbenchers Club chairperson) Shahrir Samad and I worked out an arrangement, with the support of MPs from both side of the House and without any involvement of any minister if the government ... to make time for debate and passage of the motion by ensuring all outstanding government business could be completed before the normal adjournment time," he said.

Lim said that this historic arrangement was however scupperred by a leak in the House which caused the sitting to be adjourned.

Now, he said, the parliamentary caucus will have to consider its next course of action on the motion at the next session in June.

New phase of campaign

In the meantime, the veteran politician also said that the next Asean Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC) meeting in Singapore on June 2 will be vital to strategise a new phase of the campaign to deny Burma the Asean chair in 2006 unless the military junta there brings about democratisation, improve its human rights records and release the jailed pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

"All Asean nations should fully realise they run the risk of being regarded as a rogue organisation if they allow a rogue nation like Myanmar to take over the Asean chair."

Burma is set to take over the chairmanship from Malaysia in June 2006 and thus far has come under pressure from many Asean countries as well as United States and the European Community to decline the post for its repression of democracy.