Entrepreneur Development Minister Mohd Nazri Aziz has challenged Dr Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi, the Kuala Terengganu PAS MP, to a debate on the closure of two Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) in Terengganu.

During a joint press conference held at the Parliament lobby this morning, the two said they have yet to work out details such as the title, place and time of the debate.

However, they said the debate will be held in Terengganu by the end of next month and that it is likely to be broadcast 'live' on television.

Nazri, who is Umno division chief and MP for Chenderoh, Perak, issued the written challenge today.

Syed Azman accepted it after obtaining permission from PAS Acting President Abdul Hadi Awang.

Nazri said he made the decision after seeing that Syed Azman had tabled a motion in the Dewan Rakyat to "condemn the government for acting in haste" in closing the two colleges in Besut and Dungun.

'Dirty politics'

In the written motion, the PAS MP described the act as motivated by the "narrow politics of revenge because Umno cannot accept that voters in Terengganu had rejected its candidates" in the 1999 general election. (PAS won the state to form the government.)

Syed Azman called on the House to take a stand on the issue in light of "dirty politics" by certain Umno leaders whose "irrational and emotional" actions had betrayed the dignity and future of Terengganu Malays.

Nazri said it was unfair of Syed Azman to have attacked him and his ministry through the motion, and that the open debate would enable him to reply to the allegations.

"We would not have sufficient time to debate this during the (current) Parliament sitting," he said.

"And if we have the debate in Parliament or (hold an open debate in) Kuala Lumpur, the Terengganu people will not know the truth."

'Political punishment'

MRSM colleges are administered by Majlis Rakyat Amanah (Mara), which comes under Nazri's ministry.

He had earlier been reported as saying that the closure of the two colleges in Besut and Dungun (photo) was not to due to political pressure, but a "matter of principle". The move had led to the transfer of over 600 students to other MRSM branch campuses.

Opposition members, especially those from PAS, had claimed that the closure was politically motivated and meant to punish the people in Terengganu for voting in PAS.

One bone of contention between the state and federal governments was the state's alleged refusal to allow Terengganu students to be relocated in MRSM colleges situated elsewhere in the country.

The ministry also insisted that the state reduce the intake quota for Terengganu-born students, from 80 percent to 40 percent. PAS countered that the quota had been set in a 1993 agreement between Yayasan Terengganu and Mara.