What a debate!

Dato Ahmad Saberry Cheek

Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim

What a great political debate between Minister of Information, Dato' Ahmad Shaberry Cheek and De facto leader of PKR, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim on live debate yesterday on the title of "Hari ini membentuk kerajaan, besok turun harga minyak - Form government today, reduce fuel price tomorrow". A very rare live telecast political debate, not in RTM, the national news centre, but a neutral venue, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. It was indeed a very organized debate, with pre-planed structure and a very good time control, from both debaters.

As usual, when there is a debate, public will judge and choose a winner. BN supporters said its Shaberry's victory but PR supporters said Anwar won the debate. But that would only divert the core question of the debate and the main objective of making the issue clearer. Its all about whether Malaysia, an oil production country, should raise the fuel price when the international crude oil price hike to a record high?

The BN theory, supported by most economist, is that fuel subsidy, in fact most subsidies, are not good for the economy. With huge subsidy from the government, the economy is not running healthy; every product produce in this country is subsidised and does not represent the real cost, thus creating a false impression that goods made in Malaysia in cheaper. The cheaper goods are not because the productivity is higher in this country but merely because it was subsidised. When fuel price is low, like USD20 per barrel in 1990s, or even US40 when Pak Lah took over the country in 2003, it would not make big different. But when the price hike to USD150 per barrel, it cost a lot! It is lucky that this country has petroleum within her boundary, if not, the economy would have collapse.

The PR theory, however, focus on Petronas huge profit, which amounted RM62 billion this year and this big sum of money should be used to subsidise the fuel price, so that the public can enjoy a lower petrol price. Their argument is simple, the money from Petronas, which are now being use for development project under government budget, should be use for fuel subsidy as the public think its better in that way because everyone can enjoy the benefit but if it is use for development project, it would be "swallow" by big market player and cronies from BN.

Whether you support theory from BN or PR, it is your right and your justification. One thing is certain, use platform like Parliament and debate like this to express your views and the public could have more chance to learn the substance of each theory and make better choice in future. Certainly not rally, not illegal gathering, not demonstration. Of course it takes two hands to clap, the government should continue giving more space for opposition to express their opinion, and the opposition should use the proper platform to do so.

We are now in a midst of creating a more democratic nation. The early stage of two party system now is still very fragile. Any over zealous action will destroy it and once it is gone, we would not know how long we have to wait to come back to this stage again. So let's acknowledge the election result and start cooperating to build our economy. After all, the rakyat chosen politician to make their life better, not worst.