Kit Siang did not think Najib would accept
Kit Siang will not last more than three rounds in the ring. And he knows this, as does the entire Pakatan Harapan, which is why he had to back down and allow Najib a walk-over. For all intents and purposes, Najib won the debate. That is why Anwar Ibrahim had to make his statement saying that the debate had to be called off to prevent race riots in Malaysia.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
When Lim Kit Siang threw the challenge and stated the terms and conditions for debating Najib Tun Razak, he thought he was going to win through a walkover à la Nothing2Hide 2.0 because Najib would back down. When Najib agreed to the debate, plus the attached terms and conditions, Kit Siang’s heart stopped beating.
Kit Siang had to quickly find ways and means to get out of the debate. If he continued with the debate he was sunk. How was he going to prove all those allegations he has been making against Najib?
For once Kit Siang was going to have to put his money where his mouth is and prove his allegations. But he will not be able to do that.
READ MORE HERE: Lim Kit Siang Withdraws From Debating Najib Razak
Kit Siang said Malaysia is most corrupt because of Mahathir
First of all, Kit Siang’s allegation is that Malaysia is the most corrupt country in the world (global kleptocracy). But this is not what is internationally reported.
Malaysia scored 47 points out of 100 on the 2018 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Index in Malaysia averaged 49.50 Points from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 53.20 Points in 1996 and a record low of 43 Points in 2011.
The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).
So how is Kit Siang’s allegation that Malaysia is most corrupt going to hold when from 1995 (Mahathir’ time) to 2018 (Najib’s time) it averaged 49.5 out of 100?
Anwar said the Kit Siang-Najib debate has to be called off to avoid May 13 version 2.0
All Najib needs to do is argue this point and Kit Siang is gone. Then Najib will raise all the allegations of corruption that Kit Siang made from the 1980s till now and point out that it was Mahathir who Kit Siang accused of corruption.
Round two and Kit Siang is dead.
Kit Siang will not last more than three rounds in the ring. And he knows this, as does the entire Pakatan Harapan, which is why he had to back down and allow Najib a walk-over. For all intents and purposes, Najib won the debate. That is why Anwar Ibrahim had to make his statement saying that the debate had to be called off to prevent race riots in Malaysia.
A reminder of another “May 13” always works, even for Pakatan Harapan.
