MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong has rebuked Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for refusing to debate him on the undersea tunnel issue.

"I am not surprised by Guan Eng's refusal to debate me as he knows he will lose badly.

"I am however surprised with the length of his press statement which runs into five pages long in trying to justify his cowardice not to accept the debate.

"He can write 50 or 500 pages of excuses but the fact remains that Guan Eng is not brave enough to publicly debate me on the tunnel scandal that involves up to RM20 billion of losses to the Penang people," he said in a statement this afternoon.

Guan Eng, who is also the DAP secretary-general, had claimed that Wee was not qualified to challenge him to a debate as he was the number two in MCA.

He argued that only MCA president Liow Tiong Lai is qualified to issue a debate dare to him and if the two do lock horns, it must also include the 1MDB scandal.

However, Wee argued that Guan Eng's father Kit Siang is the de facto leader of DAP and therefore Guan Eng was the second-in-command and on par with him.

"Despite Guan Eng and I exchanging press statements over the tunnel scandal for more than a month, suddenly he deems that I am not qualified to debate him because I am deputy president and not the president.

"Guan Eng knows that unlike using press statements, his previous illogical answers on the Penang tunnel scandal would not stand up to scrutiny during a live public debate and he would have been ridiculed.

"This is why he refuses to debate and prefers to write a long statement of excuses not to debate," he added.

'Public support not a license for wrongdoings'

Wee also addressed Deputy Penang Chief Minister P Ramasamy's assertion that Guan Eng should not debate with him due to DAP having greater public support than MCA in the last general election.

"I would like to tell him that having public support does not mean it is a license for DAP leaders to commit wrongdoings, be corrupted or act arrogantly," he said.

Wee argued that DAP should abandon its claim of transparency if Guan Eng does not dare to answer the issue.

"If you change your mind or suddenly be man enough to debate me, then please tell me.

"I am ready to debate Guan Eng on the tunnel in Malay, Chinese or English anytime he wishes.

"There is no need to write dozens of pages of excuses if you are simply not brave enough to debate," he added.