Google
 

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Anwar vs Shabery: Another Milestone for Malaysian Democracy


I just could not believe it. A live debate (US presidential debate style) between the government and opposition live in television. I never thought that this would happen here in Malaysia. The first question people will ask after this would always be, Who Wins? From my personal opinion, in terms of style and rhetorics, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim hands down. Datuk Shabery is no match with this legendary orator. But in terms of content and substance, I have to say it is a tie. Both gave some hard facts and but both gave no concrete solution in reducing the oil price.
As Anwar have proposed, RM5 billion government subsidy for a 50 sen reduction of oil price? Until when? Is he on denial? He must accept the fact that the oil price will keep on increasing. It is a depleted resource of energy. How can a depleted resource that is being consumed everday plus with the increasing demand would decrease in price in the future? Dato Ahmad Shabery also fails to counter Anwar's statement in the leakage of government money that can be used to reduce the oil price. He seems to be just following a prepared script and not doing an impromptu reply on that. All in all, watching the debate is like watching a boxing match but with no clear TKO.

But, personally, I think the big winner here is the MALAYSIAN DEMOCRACY. Finally it has reached a stage of maturity whereby we can let the people decide who really champions their plight and issues. Congratulations to two both individuals Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Ahmad Shabery and the organiser Agenda Daily in making this happen. Hope there will be more debates like this in the future.


No comments: