Cameron Highlands by-election may see first live TV debate
CAMERON POLLS | The country may see the first live debate for a by-election if electoral reform group Bersih has its way.
Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann today revealed the group has secured the agreement of three candidates in the Cameron Highlands by-election to participate in the proposed live telecast.
"We are organising a debate among the candidates...
CAMERON POLLS | The country may see the first live debate for a by-election if electoral reform group Bersih has its way.
Bersih chairperson Thomas Fann today revealed the group has secured the agreement of the three candidates in the Cameron Highlands by-election to participate in the proposed live telecast.
"We are organising a debate among the candidates. Pakatan Harapan candidate M Manogaran has agreed to it, and so have the independent candidates.
"We are now waiting for a response from the BN candidate.
"We are also negotiating with RTM to telecast the debate live on national TV," he told a press conference in Cameron Highlands today.
Fann said the debate proposal was also a new healthy culture that Bersih has tried to introduce into Malaysia's elections.
"The debate will be on Jan 23, three days before polling day.
"We will give more details as we confirm the details," he added.
From the four contesting candidates, Fann said Bersih has yet to secure the agreement of BN's Ramli Mohd Nor, who was also absent during the press conference.
"He did not say no, he will let us know later.
"We are very hopeful that he will take this opportunity to present himself as the candidate for this by-election. There is no reason why he would reject," said Fann.
"For us in Bersih, we are a non-partisan organisation, we want to see all candidates have a fair chance to express themselves."
Fann added that Bersih had selected UKM political analyst Faisal Haziz as moderator.
The by-election is a four-cornered fight, with polling day falling on Jan 26.
Apart from Ramli, the other candidates are Harapan’s M Manogaran, and independent candidates Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib.
