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Debate itself the winner in Anwar-Shabery duel

Malaysia Insider (15/7/08): It doesn't matter who the winner was in the first-ever American-style live TV debate in the country tonight — with Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek taking centrestage to argue about fuel price hikes. The real winner was the debate itself.

Concluded quickly within an hour with a format quite similar to the American presidential candidate debates, with a rostrum each for the debater on stage, the most glaring thing for all to see was the quality of debate.

Some may say Anwar, the de facto leader of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, won the debate as he focused on the issue at hand — the fuel price hike — while Ahmad Shabery, the Information Minister, seemed to take cheap shots at Anwar especially his younger days as a rabble rouser.

Anwar proposed to reduce the current petrol pump price by 50 sen the moment his opposition coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP take over the Federal Government.

"Petronas has announced a special dividend RM6 billion to the government for this year. Why can't I take RM1 billion of that to reduce the petrol price by 50 sen?" he said to applause from a section of the 300-strong audience in the Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka Hall in Kuala Lumpur.

Elaborating further, he promised to slash pump prices further once his Pakatan Rakyat coalition took over, saying it is an initial 50 sen because the Barisan Nasional government had just hiked prices by 70 sen from RM1.92 per litre previously.

The former deputy prime minister made it clear from the start of the debate that he was not questioning national oil company Petronas but his criticisms were directed at the BN government which he alleged was rife with mismanagement and economic abuse, citing Malaysia's high electricity reserves as a waste as it only benefited the independent power producers (IPPs).

He argued the government could save RM2 billion from reducing electricity reserves, adding an additional RM3 billion to finance the 50-sen reduction can be sourced elsewhere. "Five billion is enough to help lighten the burden on the rakyat. The Perwaja bailout was RM13 billion of government money."

In his reply, Ahmad Shabery argued that "if we continue at RM1.92, it means the government is forced to bear the subsidy of RM50 billion and this means many development programmes, building of schools, roads and improving people's livelihood cannot be implemented.”

"We should know that the price increase is not our doing but due to the world oil price crisis. This is not the first time we have had a world oil crisis. The first time was in 1973-74 when after the Arab-Israeli Ramadan war. Oil price increased by 400 per cent, from US$10 a barrel to US$40 in six months.

"But it was also an important year because the late Tun Razak (the then Prime Minister) set up Petronas in a pressured situation because the world outside pressured us not to take away the rights given to Shell at that time. Shell was set up by the British before they left," he said, also to applause from his supporters.

The information minister also explained that subsidies could not be sustained for a long time because it would hamper real economic growth.

In a question-and-answer session, Ahmad Shabery was asked about the RM4.3 billion savings from an earlier fuel price increase in 2006 that was meant to be used to improve public transport but only RM834 million was used for that purpose, leading people to be cynical about the purported RM13 billion in savings in the latest subsidy cut.

The minister dismissed the question, saying that in 2006 the international fuel price was just US$70 a barrel whereas it has now reached US$140 a barrel, and went on to argue that countries such as Venezuela and Iran which heavily subsidised fuel had very high inflation rates.

Anwar however argued that Malaysia's real inflation rate of some eight per cent was caused by economic mismanagement, not by the global oil price increase. "If the Barisan Nasional says that the fuel price can be increased in a sudden and it will not be followed by increasing price of goods and services, I want to know who teaches them this kind of economic management.

"We're an oil-producing country and for every US$1 increase per barrel, we make RM360 million. Why can't we do something good with this?" Anwar thundered.

To this, Ahmad Shabery argued that Malaysia was not even in the top 20 oil-producing countries list, let alone a major player.

"We're just a small nett exporter of oil. Our profits are only 26 per cent of our oil revenue. The rest we received from the (Petronas) investments. By 2015, when we become a nett importer of oil, will we then adhere to the global price?"

In reply, Anwar said: "Who told us that our oil will deplete in 2015? Thirty years ago Petronas projected that our oil will run out by 2005. It's just a projection. I believe we have a lot more capacity."

When Ahmad Shabery pointed out that Anwar too was responsible for problems pertaining to the IPPs which are still reaping profits despite the current economic situation as he was a Cabinet minister then, the former finance minister demanded a check of record to prove that he had opposed the IPP plans approved by former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Towards the end of the debate, Ahmad Shabery repeated his argument that Anwar was still a rabble rouser and that during Anwar's time in the government he would never allowed others, especially the opposition, to participate in an open debate such as the one held tonight.

Ahmad Shabery had earlier accused Anwar of inciting the people to rise up against the government over claims of poverty in Baling, Kedah in 1974.

Pointing out these were cheap shots, Anwar explained that he was here to debate an economic issue only but would be willing to debate on other matters, including personal allegations against him, at another forum.

Besides a minor fracas before the start of the debate outside the hall as well as a very heavy police presence around the building and the surrounding area, the event, organised by AgendaDaily.com was a largely peaceful event. It was telecast live on TV9 and Astro channels 119, 501 and 502 apart from being webcast by IP Global TV.

Anwar, Shabery in lively debate on oil prices

The Star (15/7/08): Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek took on PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in a rarely seen debate on live television.

The one-hour debate, entitle Hari ini membentuk kerajaan, esok turun harga minyak (“Today we form the Government, tomorrow the fuel prices will go down) proceeded smoothly with both speakers backing their points with facts.

Anwar started off the debate by promising to reduce the fuel prices by 50sen to alleviate the economic burden faced by the people.

Shabery stressed that the inflation faced now could not be attributed solely to fuel prices, as major oil producers such as Venezuela and Iran were hit with higher inflation levels although the price of fuel in those countries were much lower.

"In Venezuela, inflation is 30%, while Iran is one of the eight nations worst hit by inflation.

"It is not just oil prices that had gone up, but the food crisis as well. Our rice is cheaper than Thailand, and that is because of our policies. We don't have to demonstrate on the streets or organise improper concerts," he said.

Anwar countered by saying that the drastic increases in fuel prices within a short period had pushed inflation levels up.

"It has been said that while prices go drastically up, inflation levels would not rise. Who was the one who taught that economic theory?" he asked.

Anwar also said that as an oil producer, the country would profit when the price of crude oil went up.

Shabery responded by saying Malaysia was only a minor oil producer and was not even in the top 20.

"In 2015, Malaysia will become a net importer of oil. By then, would we not be forced to raise the price of fuel (more) drastically (compared to today)?" he asked.

Anwar said the Petronas report stated that Malaysia would only become a net importer of oil if no new oilfields were discovered in the next 10 years.

Video dari Hanief
Anwar Ibrahim vs Ahmad Shabery (Media Rakyat)
LIVE: Anwar vs Shabery in the Great Oil Price Debate (Anil Netto)
Debat bersejarah Anwar-Shabery (Malaysiakini 15/7/08)
Anwar Ibrahim vs Shabery Cheek (Ahiruddin Attan)
The Debate: A Review (Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir)
Shabery Cheek gagal dan mengecewakan dalam debat (Syed Imran A;-Sagoff)
THE DEBATE … The winner is…. (Selangor Today)
Cheapskate! (Cakap Aje)
The "debate" (Aizuddin Danian)
Vacancy- Menteri Penerangan Malaysia (Zach)
Anwar-Shabery Cheek set new benchmark (Datuk Ahmad Talib)
Anwar-Shabery debate: My two cents (CJCM)
Kesimpulan debat (Paneh)
Shabery, when are you going to resign? (Cik Gu Nazir Khan)
Debat minyak: Ulasan spontan (Mudin 001)
Ahmad Shabery patut umum letak jawatan, tewas KO (Ulit Mayang)
Shabery Cheek, sila letak jawatan! (Khairul Faizi Ahmad Kamil)
KEPUTUSAN DEBAT : SHABERY MENANG SORAK, ANWAR MENANG FAKTA! (Nur Aflah)
Gambar perdebatan Shabery-Anwar (mStar)
Minyak: Pakatan janji turun 50 sen, Shabery anggap Anwar populis (mStar)
Anwar just edges past Shabery (Malaysian Insider)
"...for the past 50 years, they (the BN government) have been sleeping" (Malaysian Insider)
Keputusan undian dalam mStar sehingga 12.27 AM 16/7/08

Siapakah pemidato terbaik dalam debat bertajuk "Hari Ini Membentuk Kerajaan, Esok Turun Harga Minyak"?
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 87.2%
Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek 9.5%
Sama-sama hebat 3.3%