KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 – PAS has claimed that the Information Department, under the purview of the Communications and Digital Ministry, has revoked the media passes of reporters from its official mouthpiece, Harakah.
PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari who is also Pasir Mas MP claimed Harakah received a letter from the Information Department earlier today, requesting that its reporters return their official media, news portal Malaysiakini reported this evening.
“We accepted when the prime minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) reproached Harakah (during the Dewan Rakyat session) this morning.
“But today, Harakah also received a letter from the Information Department saying they are recalling the (official) media passes from Harakah reporters.
“Harakah has never experienced such action. Even when the country was under the ‘Maha Zalim’ era, the government never revoked its media pass,” he was quoted as saying during his debate session on the 2024 Supply Bill at the committee level in the Dewan Rakyat.
The “Maha Zalim” era that was referred by Ahmad Fadhli pertains to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s previous administration from 1981 to 2003 and later from 2018 to 2020.
He added that without the official media passes, Harakah journalists will be unable to enter government premises such as Parliament to report on events there.
While Ahmad Fadhli did not elaborate on the reason the government acted against Harakah, it was learned that it had to do with an article published by the PAS mouthpiece yesterday.
According to a copy of the Information Department letter sighted by Malaysiakini, the authority cited an article dated on November 6 that alleged the government of being “timid” in its support for the Palestinian cause.
The article titled “Malaysia Di Bawah Anwar Ragu-Ragu Sokong Palestin?” (Is the Anwar-led Malaysia’s support for Palestine in doubt?) quoted PAS PAS Ulama chief Datuk Ahmad Yahya.
In the article, Ahmad, who is also the Pokok Sena MP, claimed the government started to change its tone in regard to Palestine freedom fighters to follow the narrative set by Israel and the West.
Harakah also published a set of photos to accompany the article, which showed Anwar with an Israeli flag behind him while Ahmad had the Palestine flag on his side.
in the letter, the Information Department stated that the report violated journalism ethics for publishing unfounded accusations and ordered Harakah to return all its media passes by tomorrow.
Earlier today, Anwar during the Prime Minister’s Question Time in Parliament criticised the way Harakah was trying to link him to Israel.
The prime minister told off Ahmad for claiming the government is following the Western and Israeli narrative in the ongoing Palestinian conflict.
Anwar sternly said that action will be taken against those who continue to make such statements, which he described as insolent.
