Debate royale: Anwar vs Najib vs Raja Petra

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has extended the invitation for a three-cornered debate and Anwar Ibrahim has accepted.

(Free Malaysia Today) – Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has agreed to organise a debate between Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim and blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin.

Assange issued a statement on the matter which was published on Raja Petra’s Malaysia Today site.

“We now extend our invitation to Najib to debate with Raja Petra and Anwar together or in isolation,” read the statement, adding that Assange would moderate the session.

The statement added that the filmed discussions would be viewed by about 600 million people and would be available online.

In response to this, Anwar said that he was open to any form of dialogue whether in debate or forum.

“He (Assange) said that he wanted to interview me. Then Raja Petra wanted in and Najib supported him. So now the invitation is extended that all of us will debate,” he told reporters in Parliament today.

He added that the three would not have to be in the same place as the discussion could take place via video conferencing.

Assange had initially wanted a one-on-one interview with Anwar but Raja Petra also wanted to participate in the discussion.

However, the latter was excluded by the production company in charge of the event, Quick Roll Productions.

Raja Petra then called Anwar a “chicken” for refusing to debate with him.

His call was backed by Najib and Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin who told Bernama: “If he (Anwar) is a man, he must accept Raja Petra’s challenge and his refusal shows that he is hiding from the public.”

Assange’s statement read that he decided to have a three-way discussion following Najib’s backing for Raja Petra.

Najib and Raja Petra have had yet to respond.