'What era are you in?' Anwar slams caretaker PM's refusal to debate

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has hit back at caretaker prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s reluctance to have debates between the prime ministerial candidates of political parties.

Referring to Ismail Sabri as ‘Mail’, Anwar openly rubbished the caretaker prime minister’s claims that debating is not a culture in Malaysian politics.

He said it was important for debates to take place, as corrupted leaders are only able to maintain power if they can successfully fool the people. 

“Mail, what era are you in? Parliament is a place for debates. Successful schools and universities that promote critical and creative thinking allow for debates. 

“Great scholars of the past lived with thorough question-and-answer debates and opinion building.

“The only difference is we use good ethics and not insult others,” he said at the Mega Harapan tour event in Alor Gajah last night. 

Anwar last week proposed that all prime ministerial candidates from the three main political coalitions engage in a debate session.

Harapan named Anwar as the prime ministerial candidate for GE15, while Perikatan Nasional and BN nominated Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri, respectively.

However, Ismail Sabri said a debate would bring no benefits, adding that Umno and BN would win the forthcoming 15th general election based on the rakyat’s trust in them to lead the country.

Ismail Sabri also said that all candidates were now busy with campaigning in their respective constituencies.

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