Pakatan Rakyat should ask for an official briefing on the search for Flight MH370 if they wanted one, said acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein.

Speaking to reporters after briefing the BN backbenchers club (BNBBC) last night, Hishammuddin said his briefing was held after an official request was made.

"Of course, if they ask (for it). (If) they requested it. It's just that we didn't know what is (their) expectation," he told reporters.

Previously, Pakatan Rakyat MPs had cried foul after they were not invited to the briefing.

The briefing took place at the glitzy Aloft Sentral hotel. The briefing began at 9.30pm and lasted for about one hour and 45 minutes.

Apart from Hishammuddin, other key personalities involved in the search for MH370 at the briefing were MAS CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and Department of Civil Aviations director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman.

Gobind : Hisham is giving a flimsy excuse

Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo, in an immediate reaction, described the acting transport minister as clearly clueless in his response that Pakatan was not invited in the briefing “because they did not ask for one”.

Gobind ( left ) said Hishammuddin is an MP, and surely this would have triggered in his mind the need for parliament to be briefed and updated on the matter.

“This is a matter not only of national but also international concern.

“It is strange that the minister doesn’t know that many Pakatan MPs who have spoken in parliament since last Wednesday have, just like the BN MPs, expressed their concern over the matter and asked the minister to update parliament on the progress made the in search operations thus far.”

Gobind further described the reasoning given by Hishammuddin as a flimsy excuse and does not make sense.

Hishammuddin, the Puchong MP said, should show respect for parliament, the opposition and the people of Malaysia.

“He should not forget that a briefing in parliament would not just serve to benefit MPs but all Malaysians and the rest of the world as such a briefing would be open to the public and more importantly form part of the official records of parliamentary proceedings.

“It is surprising that in a most pressing time like this, when leaders are expected to inspire confidence, even simple and basic things like this, the minister doesn’t seem to appreciate nor understand.”