The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) has promised a "surprise" at its manifesto debate between BN and Pakatan Rakyat tonight, if caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak or a BN representative does not show up.
PKR de facto head Anwar Ibrahim has confirmed his presence and Bersih is still waiting for an answer from Najib, who is also the BN chairperson, Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah said.
"We are still waiting for a response from Najib. If there is no answer from his side, we will present a surprise to those attending the forum tonight," Maria (
right
) said when contacted today.
Bersih said it is organising the forum entitled, 'Manifesting People's Hope: A Common Discourse' to enable both BN and Pakatan to present their manifestos.
It is scheduled to take place at 8.45pm at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.
Najib is scheduled to present the Selangor BN manifesto tonight and is unlikely to show up at Bersih's event.
Debates between BN and Pakatan are a new political phenomenon in Malaysia, following the 2008 general election.
Such events previously featured young BN leaders, such as BN Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar, caretaker Deputy Higher Education Minister Saifuddin Abdullah and caretaker Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Gan Ping Sieu, who took on Pakatan leaders.
However, Najib - despite being BN's top leader - has never accepted Anwar's challenges to debate policies of the two coalitions.
Tonight's event is seen as Najib's final opportunity to take part in a debate before the 13th general election.
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