Harapan candidate for Semenyih turns down Bersih's debate invite
SEMENYIH POLLS | Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Semenyih by-election, Muhammad Aiman Zainali has said he will not participate in the debate organised by Bersih.
"Oh Bersih, we are not joining," the 30-year-old electrical engineer graduate said when met at Kampung Baharu Semenyih this morning...
SEMENYIH POLLS | Pakatan Harapan candidate for the Semenyih by-election, Muhammad Aiman Zainali has said he will not participate in the debate organised by Bersih.
"Oh Bersih, we are not joining," the 30-year-old electrical engineer graduate said when met at Kampung Baharu Semenyih this morning.
"We will see later. But for now, we are not joining," he said, without elaborating.
Aiman is the second candidate after BN's Zakaria Hanafi, who had turned down the debate invite by Bersih.
Zakaria had said that the 14 days of campaign period will be dedicated to meeting voters.
Parti Sosialis Malaysia's (PSM) candidate Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul has accepted the debate offer.
The electoral watchdog plans to conduct the debate at the Semenyih campus of the University of Nottingham Malaysia on Feb 25.
This is not the first time Bersih has organised a debate during a by-election. In January, Aiman's colleague in Pakatan Harapan - M Manogaran of DAP, had participated in a televised debate during the Cameron Highlands by-election.
'No debate if no participation'
When contacted, Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann expressed his disappointment at both Zakaria and Aiman turning down the debate offer.
"If there is only one or two candidates joining the debate, we probably won't have it," he told Malaysiakini.
The candidates should use the debate as a platform to talk about their plans and vision for the constituency, he stressed.
With the deadline for the debate invitation being tomorrow, independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng is yet to get back to Bersih regarding his decision, added Fann.
"Debate is not just a positive culture we want to see taking place in Malaysia, but it is also a requirement for elected representatives, as they need to debate an issue in the state assembly (or Parliament)," he said.
"We will continue to organise debates because we believe this is the direction Malaysian politic should take," Fann added.
According to Fann, candidates should not see debates as a place where negative arguments take place, but as a venue where they are given time to state their positions and answer questions.
