KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has never set any rule to prevent individuals, including police Special Branch (SB) officers, from attending its press conferences, says Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The Parti Warisan Sabah president clarified that anyone is allowed to attend public press conferences held by the Chief Minister and other members of the state cabinet.
Shafie rubbished claims that he and his government had issued a directive to bar SB officers from government and Warisan functions.
"The SB can come anytime to hear our speech and statements. Why should we stop them?" he said.
"You (journalists) are also members of the public. Whatever you write will come out in the papers the next day, and people find out either way (about the content of the press conference). So what reasons do we have to be secretive?
"Any decision to ban SB officers from attending our press conferences is unnecessary and not true," stressed Shafie.
The former federal minister said he had never encountered such restrictive laws even when he was serving at the national level.
Shafie spoke to reporters after visiting the Ramadan bazaar at Lintasan Deasoka, here, on Thursday (May 16) and distributing bubur lambuk to the public.
