As eexpected, the Opposition is getting all the mileage they can from Najib Razak's refusal to debate Anwar Ibrahim on the 100-Day Promise (100DP). The reasons for this were discussed yesterday on this blog, and unless cows suddenly take flight, those reasons will remain valid.
Similarly, KJ has made it a point to get as much mileage from the whole affair as well. Which i find strange since he already on the way out of national politics, having publicly given up his Rembau seat during the next elections. What could he gain from this, besides getting his hide handed to him? Anwar will never debate him publicly, he even ignores him on Twitter, and rightly so, i must add.
Praba Ganesan, in his regular column in the Malaysian Insider, raised an important point today -- Malaysian politics lacks good orators. Anwar Ibrahim is the best of the bunch, but after him, the next pickings are very few and far in between. We don't have a Kennedy, nor a Churchill, or a Hitler -- love them or hate them, they were great speakers who were able to get people to believe in their message.
Perhaps, that's what Malaysia, more than anything today, needs. We need someone who can light up our collective passions, and make us believe that the future can indeed be better.
For me, i would like to hear this debate. In fact, i'd pay money to hear it. If the leaders won't duke it out, then let KJ and the PR Youth Chief, Syamsul Iskandar. It would be more of a welterweight bout, but in the absence of a heavy weight match between Najib and Anwar, it would still be worth listening to.
I'm not convinced in the feasibility of the 100DP, but a debate won by PR, might sway my beliefs. As Praba said, Malaysia is waiting to be convinced.
