FORMER prime minister Najib Razak hopes that his debate with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim yesterday will give Umno and Barisan Nasional an edge in the general election.

The Pekan MP said he hopes the debate has cast a better light on Umno’s ideas on governing the country and help the party return to Putrajaya.

“Hopefully we had some ammunition, lots of points and this helped us.

“We want to return to Putrajaya. Just Umno, not like now where we have to share with others. Just Umno and Barisan Nasional,” he said.

Najib said he felt that his arguments were more salient than Anwar’s.

“I feel relieved. I haven’t slept well in a week. Hopefully tonight I can sleep well, God willing. I wanted to do my best because I was representing Umno in the debate with Anwar.

“I want to show that Umno is on the right track, our ideas are well thought out compared to the other party and that we have the right philosophy,” Najib said.

He was speaking to his fans last night at the Kuala Lumpur World Trade Centre after the debate.

Najib was accompanied by Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who declared his party colleague the winner of the debate that lasted more than an hour.

“Tonight, Bossku is the winner. What’s important is not rhetoric but facts, and when it comes to facts Bossku is unbeatable.” said Zahid, referring to Najib by his chosen nickname.

“Every segment was completely controlled by Bossku,” the Bagan Datuk MP said.

Zahid suggested that such debates should take place more often.

“If we have a debate every month it will be better, see who is better, not in terms of attacking others but intellectually capable of presenting facts without being emotional,” he said.

Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan was also present with a crowd who chanted “Hidup Bossku” and “Hidup Umno”.

The debate last night took place at the Malaysian Tourism Centre and was telecast live on TV channels and social media platforms.

The topic was Sapura Energy Bhd, a government-linked company, which has announced a loss of RM8.9 billion for 2021.

In last night’s debate, Najib reiterated the need to bail out Sapura as it was a Bumiputera company whose biggest shareholder was Permodalan Nasional Bhd.

Anwar called for accountability and for the people who ran the company to the ground to be punished before it is decided whether the company is worth saving. – May 13, 2022.