'Umno leaders afraid of debating with me'

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has slammed Umno leaders for rejecting his proposal for an open dialogue with the government to address key national issues.

“These guys (Umno leaders) are afraid of debating with me,” he said.

He described dialogues between the government and the opposition as “normal” and “healthy”.

“In what kind of democratic country where the government is not allowed to engage with the opposition?” he asked.

Anwar firmly denied that the dialogue was aimed at forming a unity government as feared by some Umno leaders.

“This showed that they (Umno leaders) did not read my Merdeka message. I asked for a discussion in four crucial issues, including poor economic performance, increase in crime rate, corruption, and religious and racial tensions,” he said.

Tiger of Jelutong

Anwar, who is also PKR de facto leader, had in his Merdeka message on Aug 30 mooted an open dialogue with BN.

He said that although Pakatan Rakyat won on popular vote in the last general election, he was open to discussing with the government on key issues for the sake of the future of the country.

Anwar was speaking to journalists after attending the launch of a new book on DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh, ‘Karpal Singh: Tiger of Jelutong’, in Kuala Lumpur today. The book is written by New Zealand journalist Tim Donoghue.

When asked about Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin’s urging for Pakatan to name its shadow cabinet, Anwar sidestepped the question.

“I advise him (Khairy) to focus on his ministerial work,” he said.