1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy has accepted the debate challenge issued by DAP lawmaker Tony Pua.

"I hereby accept the debate challenge. Bring it on!” Arul Kanda said in a media statement today.

"What is clear is that, despite him almost exclusively questioning me for two full days at the PAC (Public Accounts Committee hearing), the DAP representative still wants to spend quality time with me. Far be it from me, to deny Pua this pleasure," he added.

Last night, Pua told a forum organised by Pakatan Harapan in Shah Alam that with the PAC report on 1MDB already tabled in Parliament, he once again challenges Arul Kanda to a live televised debate over the scandal plaguing the fund.

Pua had first issued the challenge to Arul Kanda last year, when the PAC investigation into the 1MDB affairs was still on-going.

However, Arul Kanda said it was not possible unless the Petaling Jaya Utara MP resigns from his post as PAC member.

'I hope Pua has checked with the speaker'

In his statement today, the !MDB chief pointed out that this must be the first time that a ‘PAC DAP judge’ wants to debate with a ‘defendant’ after the proceedings are over and after the PAC report has been issued.

“To avoid being embarrassed a second time, I hope Pua has first checked with the Speaker of Parliament before issuing this debate challenge,” he said.

Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia had previously rejected the idea of a debate between the two, citing Pua’s involvement with the 1MDB investigation.

1MDB has been mired in scandal involving its debts and alleged financial improprieties, which have been reported through several series of articles by the media around the world, among others The Wall Street Journal .