Will Malaysia Ever See Real Political Debates

---

I remember that in the 2013 general election, two candidates decided to debate each other, marking, for the first time, a debate between political opponents during an election in Malaysia (as far as I know).
It was PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar, who was contesting in Lembah Pantai, against then Umno’s Saifuddin Abdullah, contesting in Temerloh.
I attended and reported on the debate, which turned out not to really be a debate and rather more of two people talking about how they wanted to see politics progress in Malaysia.
This was a long time, and it was honestly exciting to see something like that happening in the political scene in Malaysia.
Ceramah over debate
For all of you who are familiar, political debates don’t really happen in Malaysia. The most common form of campaigning here is the ceramah.
Politicians love giving ceramahs. They organise big rallies so they can give ceramahs. They visit villages, mosques and coffee shops so they can give ceramahs. They love it.
PKR deputy president hopeful Nurul Izzah Anwar during a meet-the-grassroots session in conjunction with the upcoming party pollsTruth be told, ceramahs are a heck of a lot of fun. I used to follow the ceramah trail all around different states because the speeches would be really entertaining, almost like a stand-up comedy show.
They would be making all kinds of jokes and teasing their political opponents. The food stalls are also another pull factor - good food!
However, ceramahs give a pretty one-sided perspective. It’s usually organised by a single party, and all the speakers are from that party, campaigning for that party.
There are no general ceramahs where all the parties contesting would attend and share their manifestos and, well, debate together.
We saw a bit of progress 10 years after the “panel discussion” between Nurul Izzah and Saifuddin. Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli and PAS MP for Bachok Syahir Che Sulaiman debated against each other, and it was even televised live.
However, it wasn’t as intellectually stimulating or interesting.
Rafizi was obviously heads and shoulders above Syahir, and it was a thrashing. Rafizi was spewing actual facts, figures and policies while Syahir was just about roundabout rhetoric and taking cheap shots to get a laugh from the audience.
Syahir was out of his league, but I commend him and Rafizi for going through with it.
More debates please
Many countries have political debates as a staple during campaigning, such as the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.
The 2024 Presidential Debate between Donald Trump and Kamala HarrisI think that debates are great because we get to not only see the capability of the candidates, but also familiarise ourselves with their manifestos and policies.
We can see how they poke holes in each other’s manifestos and watch a proper discourse.
A proper debate can help us as voters and people who have the power to determine our government actually make more educated and informed decisions instead of just voting for the most amusing person at a ceramah (hello Mat Sabu!).
I really do hope that political debates can happen more often in Malaysia. It really doesn’t help when politicians here actually constantly decline to debate with each other.
But I guess it goes to show that they probably won’t do well in a debate, and that also goes to show the quality of our politicians.
That being said, for all of this to work out, the public also has to play an important role, and that is as a mature voting society.
We need to be able to engage with the actual manifestos and policies. We have to be familiar with the different issues so that we can understand the debate and discourse, at the same time, demand for it.
Let’s forge ahead
Malaysia needs to mature and progress way further than we are now. It was good progress in 2018 when we finally managed to vote out an authoritarian administration and prove that we can democratically change governments.
So now, after seven years, we should continue to move further.
A ceramah during the Sungai Bakap by-election campaigning periodWe can still have the usual ceramahs. I wouldn’t want that to go away because it is one of the most anticipated activities every time election season comes around.
But I also want thought-provoking and challenging debates happening because that will help me decide on voting day. - Mkini
ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist and academic. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.

---