KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Left out of a briefing on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang demanded to know if the public is paying for the Transport Ministry’s event held at a luxury hotel here and open only to Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs.

Insisting that the matter should come under the purview of Parliament, the veteran DAP lawmaker questioned the need to hold a special briefing just for the BN backbenchers club (BNBBC) as well as the rationale of conducting it at a hotel.

“What are the costs of the event at the posh hotel, Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral Ballroom, and was it borne by the taxpayers through the Transport Ministry or by the BNBBC?

“Why wasn’t the briefing, even ‘For BN MPs only’ held in Parliament House, which would not have incurred the exorbitant costs of holding it in a posh hotel like Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral Ballroom — which must have ‘cost a bomb’?” the Gelang Patah MP asked in a statement today.

He noted that invitations for the event were sent by acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, saying this raised questions about who arranged the event: the ministry or the BNBBC.

Pointing to Hishammuddin’s claim that the briefing was limited to the timeline of events in the MH370 crisis, Lim said the meeting appeared a superfluous “social event” that was a distraction as the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) chief, CEO of MAS and top military officials were made to attend.

“In giving a briefing on the MH370 crisis which is confined to BN MPs only, and which is a rehash of what had already been announced at the MH370 crisis daily media conferences without anything new or extra, and tying down important officials from the DCA, Armed Forces and MAS in the SAR operation in the BNBBC social dinner, Hishammuddin has got his priorities wrong,” the DAP parliamentary leader said.

Lim then repeated his call for the setting up of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Disasters to support the MH370 search and also conduct probes into the missing flight.

Last night, Hishammuddin said the government has no hidden agenda in organising the special briefing for BN lawmakers on the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, saying that they are open to arranging a similar session to keep opposition MPs up-to-date on the events that have unfolded since the Beijing-bound aircraft disappeared mid-flight on March 8.

He said that there is no reason why the government cannot be transparent with Parliament on the matter, and that they would “comply” with any request for a briefing from Pakatan Rakyat.

Opposition parliamentarians began complaining on Monday after an invitation letter sent to BN MPs and bearing the Transport Ministry’s letterhead made its rounds in the Dewan Rakyat and on social media.

PKR MPs Fuziah Salleh and Sim Tze Tzin had accused the Najib administration of partisan politics in locking out from the briefing 89 elected representatives from the opposition.

MCA deputy president Datuk Wee Ka Siong today stressed that the briefing came about at the BNBBC’s own initiative, and it is part of the club’s normal practice to engage ministers for briefings from time to time.