KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs should ask acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for their own briefing on MH370 instead of blaming Barisan Nasional (BN) for keeping them out of the loop, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said today.

The MCA deputy president pointed out that last night's briefing, held by the Transport Ministry, was done at the request of the BN backbenchers club (BNBBC) and it only made sense to extend the invitation to its own members.

“It's logic lah... if BNBBC organised the briefing, you can't expect us to call them (PR) in as associate members,” he said when approached at the Parliament lobby.

“I don't see what is wrong. If Hisham had said bar the PR MPs, then that is a different story,” he added.

Opposition parliamentarians were in a tizzy since Monday after an invitation letter sent out to BN MPs and bearing the transport ministry's letterhead made its rounds in the Dewan Rakyat and social media.

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

DAP's Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo also panned Hishammuddin for being “clearly clueless” for saying that they were left out of the “BN MPs only” briefing as the opposition pact had not requested for such a meeting.

Wee 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.

“Sometimes we see Nazri meet with the opposition for discussions. It is his own initiative, so why should we be jealous?” he said of Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's penchant to engage with PR MPs outside of the Dewan Rakyat.

“Sometimes the BNBBC calls ministers for briefings. This is an initiative by the BNBBC to update the knowledge of our MPs, especially the BN backbenchers. If they want, PR should just arrange for it themselves,” Wee added.

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 the opposition MPs up-to-date on the events that have unfolded since the Beijing-bound aircraft disappeared midflight 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 PR.