For the first time ever, Umno has issued official accreditation cards for Malaysiakini journalists covering the party's annual general assembly.

NONE Appeals were sent to Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor yesterday afternoon, and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had offered to raise the issue at the party’s supreme council meeting last night.

However, only two cards were issued to Malaysiakini , far from the 15 applied by the independent news portal for its four language sections and video.

The cards allow access into the assembly’s media centre, which serves as a hub for speech texts and impromptu meet-the-press sessions, and is equipped with monitors airing the proceedings as well as workspace for journalists.

A number of other online websites were also issued passes this morning.

For most mainstream news organisations, it is understood that nearly all applications are accommodated.

Told to leave

A check with the Umno secretariat indicated that no appeals by Malaysiakini for more cards would be entertained.

NONE Yesterday, eight Malaysiakini journalists, and several others, were told to leave the media centre for not possessing accreditation cards, forcing them to work on the floor.

As with previous years, Malaysiakini journalists had applied for the cards but these applications were consistently denied.

However, no restrictions on the use of the media centre were ever imposed until now.