THE highly anticipated debate between former prime minister Najib Razak and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was lacklustre, political analyst said. 

They said the two politicians did not have anything to offer except rhetoric. 

International Islamic University of Malaysia’s Tunku Mohar Tunku Mohd Mokhtar said the debate was an uneven match that did not yield convincing answers to the questions posted to the partiicpants.

“It’s quite painful to see an uneven match. They shouldn’t debate one another. Their levels are different, somehow.

“(There was) too much political rhetoric. One didn’t really answer the questions satisfactorily,”  Tunku Mohar said. 

The face-off between the former Umno president and the PKR president took place at the Malaysian Tourism Centre (MaTic) last night. 

The debate mostly touched on the fate of the cash-strapped oil and gas service provider Sapura Energy Bhd but also covered national issues including the economy, governance and the way forward for Malaysia.

Najib had suggested that Sapura Energy be bailed out to save thousands of jobs, including that of the vendors.

Meanwhile, Anwar called for forensic accounting to determine whether Sapura Energy deserved a bailout. 

University of Tasmania’s Asian political expert Dr James Chin said the debate was “boring” and likened it to a pre-election campaign.

“In terms of the content, Najib’s talk was somewhat ‘cakap kosong’. It was rhetoric.

“Najib was basically selling the Barisan Nasional and Umno model, where he was making a lot of promises, which most probably would not happen if he were to come into power.

“Anwar stuck to the facts and talked about cleaning up the system. Anwar had more substance but that was not what the people wanted to hear,” he said. 

Sapura Energy posted a net loss of RM6.61 billion in its fourth quarter ending January compared to a loss of RM216.03 million for the same period last year.

For the full year ending January 31, the group reported a net loss of RM8.9 billion, its highest ever, while its annual revenue fell 22.84% to RM4.13 billion.

The company is currently undertaking a massive debt restructuring exercise involving banks, vendors and contractors. 

Based on the reaction of the audience, Chin said he felt that Najib had fared better in the debate.

“Najib was very optimistic, he thought he could turn things around while Anwar was talking about the forensic report to find out who erred in Sapura. 

“It looked like Anwar was harping on on the issue but not offering solutions, while Najib looked very optimistic about the future and he sounded confident that he could turn everything around. 

“So, if you ask public opinion, I would say Najib won the debate,” Chin said.

Chin said the event allowed the public to see the capabilities of both the  leaders, ahead of the general election. 

“The benefit (of this debate) is seeing the leader from the government side, which here is Najib, who looked like he was positioning himself to comeback as the prime minister. 

“Anwar on the other hand positioned himself as the leader of Pakatan Harapan (PH) heading into the 15th General Election. 

“I suppose this debate allowed people to see what the two leaders are like.  

“What we learnt was that PH is still committed to reforms; Anwar is determined to reform the Malaysian system, which I think is the right thing to do,” Chin added.

There was a 400-strong audience at the event. – May 13, 2022.