Anwar Ibrahim - Shabery Cheek debate

Anwar - Shabery live debate on Astro Awani channel 501 and TV9, organised by Agendadaily.com (image credit: Malaysiakini)

After watching the debate, "Hari ini membentuk kerajaan, esok turun harga minyak", I think it was pretty obvious that Dato' Seri Anwar was the better person. Though Dato' Shabery did brought up some good points, it was no match to the points and details raised by Dato' Seri Anwar. I doubt any UMNO supporters would claim that Shabery 'won' the debate. I'd say Shabery has failed in his duty as a representative of the government to explain the rational and the reason of the government's policy to increase the price of petrol. By saying this I am not implying that I agree with the petrol increase. It is just that Shabery was not convincing enough. I shooked my head in disbelieve when he spoke again and again about the 1974 demonstrasi mahasiswa issue for the third time toward the ending speech. What has this got to do with the debate topic? Tak ada modal lain ke, Dato? I was hoping that he could do better than pointing out those uncalled for personal attacks.

If it were to be a football match, I can roughly say that Shabery lost by a score of 7-3. But let's be fair to Shabery, although he failed miserably, as a new minister, I think credits should also be given to him for the fact that he is courageous enough to face Anwar in a live telecast debate. Frankly, I can only think of Tun Dr Mahathir that could fight off Anwar in any debate. Even the famous son in law, Khairy Jamaluddin could perform better, I think. Other than Tun himself, none of the current BN or UMNO leaders which I feel have the quality or at least could match off with Anwar.

My initial view of the debate was that I feel it is meaningless. It shouldn't be held in the first place. RTM has screened two similar forums in previous weeks. First was the forum with Minister Dato' Shahrir Samad and PAS Youth Chief, Salahuddin Ayub and secondly was with the Petronas CEO, Tan Sri Hassan Merican, discussing the issue of petrol price and so on. And there is just no point in having another debate. This petrol price debate is going nowhere.

To me, the just concluded debate served no purpose for the government and it only increases Anwar's popularity among the general public. The government should just move on with whatever policies it feels best for the rakyat. They can never please everybody. But then again, this is what happen when you have a weak government and a weak leadership; more politicking than governance, more development projects being scrapped or postponed, flip flop decision making etc etc..

Oh well, what a night it has been. Astro is surely the biggest winner.
Good night, Malaysia..

More news and pictures
mSTAR Online: Gambar Debar Anwar-Shabery
Malaysiakini: Debat Bersejarah Anwar-Shabery