SHAH Alam MP Khalid Samad today urged Perikatan Nasional and Barisan Nasional to accept Pakatan Harapan’s challenge for its Malacca chief ministerial candidate to debate theirs.

Khalid who is the Amanah communication director, dared the two coalitions to show courage and allow voters to decide who they wanted to lead the state/

“We hope Umno, PN will be brave and accept this challenge. We want to see how each candidate performs in a debate, and we can also discuss ways to settle the problem in Malacca,” Khalid said in a video today.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim had previously told the government to allow the Malacca chief ministerial candidates to debate on official radio and television channels.

This was after Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa said the government was considering allowing candidates to campaign on official channels due to Covid-19 restrictions on campaigning.

“I welcome this suggestion for the government to provide equal footing for all election candidates to campaign in Malacca, including Pakatan Harapan (PH),” Anwar said in a statement last week.

“Therefore, I suggest that an open debate be held between chief ministerial candidates from PH, Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional.”

Khalid in today’s video ridiculed Umno’s CM candidate Sulaiman Md Ali who had told reporters that there was no need for him to debate his PH counterpart Adly Zahari.

“Sulaiman is afraid because he does not know anything. The one who controls Malacca is Rauf, not him even though he was the CM. That is why he does not want to face Adly. He does not know a thing,” said Khalid.

Khalid was referring to former Malacca assembly speaker Ab Rauf Yusoh, who is said to wield a strong influence over Sulaiman on state matters.

Rauf had denied such accusations.

The Malacca polls will start on November 20, but the strict Covid-19 standard operating procedures set has made reaching out to voters a monumental task for the candidate

All physical campaign gatherings, including ceramah, door-to-door canvassing and walkabouts, are banned. – November 14, 2021.