Najib doesnt has guts to face Anwar because he is cheating Malaysians with his bullshits

Anwar calls Najib's bluff: PM now has to debate after 'talking big' at Felda event

Written by Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle

In the interest of the Malaysian people who are becoming increasingly worried about the state of the economy and the prospect of crippling inflation, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has written a formal request to Prime Minister Najib Razak for an open and public debate.

However, although the 63-year old Anwar is unlikely to get a civil reply from his counterpart in the federal government, Najib will now have no choice but to agree after publicly insisting that there was no reason for him to fear Anwar.

“Yes. Najib now has no way out but to agree after his swaggering speech in front of all the Felda settlers. Very 'malu' (shameful) for him to pretend he doesn't know now. If previously, people accused him of cowardice, he could still close an eye. But today, he himself told thousands of people, ‘why should I be afraid of debating with Anwar?’ Now, let’s hope that he has the guts to carry out his words,” PKR vice president Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

Attacking Anwar for sodomy but mum on Altantuya

On the stump in Tenang, where a by-election will be held at the end of this month and even before official campaigning is allowed to start, Najib went all out to muddy his rival’s reputation.

Najib told some 7,000 Felda settlers at the Chemplak settlement in Tenang that he was the prime minister and because of this exalted position, why should he be afraid to debate with Anwar.

Like his Umno colleague and newly-appointed Felda chairman Isa Samad, Najib hit Anwar on his sodomy charges. Not surprisingly, he omitted to mention that Anwar had accused him of fabricating these very charges to derail Anwar's political comeback. Najib’s government has been condemned and shamed by many nations in the world for trying to frame Anwar with an unfair trial.

"Why should I be afraid of debating with him? I'm prime minister, I have all information. If I expose them... adoi... he will get a fever. Do I need to debate with him?" Malayskini reported Najib as telling the crowd.

The 57-year old Najib is himself at the centre of a sex scandal involving the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibu, with whom he allegedly had an affair. Both he and his wife Rosmah Mansor were accused of manipulating behind the scenes and although they have denied the allegations, their former former bodyguards were sentenced to hang for the murder. Even so, most Malaysians believe there were master-minds who ordered the killing and many still suspect it was the first couple.

Meanwhile, Pakatan Rakyat leaders also slammed Najib for bringing election goodies to Tenang and said they would lodge complaints that he was campaigning before it was permissible.

Najib, who is also the Umno president, had promised the Tenang settlers that Felda would set aside RM1.6 billion for community and development projects to improve their lives. This would also include other settlers in the country.

“It is against Election Commission rules to campaign before Nomination day. Najib thinks he is being smart by bringing the goodies early so that he won’t be accused of bribing voters. But he is breaking another rule – that of campaigning before campaigning period is officially open,” said Tian.

Fear of civil debate and Najib's own low culture

Najib began the debate controversy when he lambasted the Pakatan's 100-days reform plan as "irresponsible" and would bankrupt Malaysia like Greece. Yet his own department had months ago warned that Malaysia could go bankrupt by 2019 if subsidies on consumer essentials were not cut and prices not raised.

Anwar has frequently slammed Najib for being "unmanly" to target consumer essentials which affect the lower income, but not daring to reduce the same aid to crony firms that have been given billions of ringgit in subsidy far exceeding the sum total of retail subsidies for goods such as petrol, cooking gas, sugar and the like.

Indeed, Anwar's public exposure that Independent Power Producers enjoyed subsidies totalling RM19billion and toll concessions RM4billion have infuriated Najib, whom pundits say has no valid rebuttal to make.

“We cannot take such a populist approach to the point where we sacrifice our country’s future. We cannot afford to do that, it would be irresponsible to the point where our children and our grandchildren will pay the price and suffer. As a matter of fact, we do not even have to wait for our children or grandchildren, according to our calculations, if these promises are implemented without taking into account the country’s finances, it would just take two years,” Najib had said.

His comments sparked the debate challenge from Anwar the very next day. But instead of accepting the proposal in the spirit of working for the good of the people, Najib and his advisers have chosen to regard it as a personal challenge to his credibility.

Even Umno leaders appear to have little confidence in his being able to trump Anwar in a public discourse. Minister in the PM's Department Nazri Aziz and Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin have rushed to offer to stand in for him. Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali was also among the first to advise him not to accept.

"This is Umno for you. They cannot be civil and behave with respect to other people. They can only hurl insults or burn effigies to hide their own fear. Najib is their leader, so it is not surprising that he exhibits this sort of low culture too," Gopeng MP Lee Boon Chye told Malaysia Chronicle.