Ambiga’s withdrawal from debate draws scorn

Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga’s excuse that she was not debating is unacceptable, says Senator Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor.

UPDATED

KUALA LUMPUR: Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga’s refusal to debate with Yuktes Vijay, a former aide in Anwar Ibrahim’s legal team, on the People’s Tribunal has drawn scorn from Senator Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor.

“The reluctance and hesitancy shown by Ambiga to debate clearly shows that the Tribunal Rakyat was a mere Barisan Nasional bashing exercise,” Mohd Ezam said in a statement today, referring to the People’s Tribunal by its Malay name.

Ambiga had originally agreed to a debate with Yuktes through micro-blogging site Twitter, but later called it off when she learned the topic was on the People’s Tribunal.

“…Have explained. Disagreed with topic of findings of [People’s Tribunal] when they are not out yet. Said I disagreed from Day1..” she tweeted on Wednesday.

But Ezam argued today that the debate, scheduled for Nov 16, was to focus on what was submitted during tribunal, and did not touch upon the judges’ conclusions.

“Deciphering the excuse given by Ambiga for her withdrawal, it seems like she intends to use the findings of the Tribunal as a reference point to validate her vague and bias (sic) views.

“Perhaps (it is an) indication that she indeed lacks evidence to substantiate her views and allegations about the [general election] and the[election commission],” said Ezam.

He also pointed out that the tribunal was not recognised by law, and thus there was no question of contempt should the debate go on.

“Personally, I was surprised and astounded when Ambiga accepted the challenge of Yuktes Vijay for a debate. In fact, the founding father of Bersih, Anwar Ibrahim would not have been pleased at all with this decision of hers,” claimed Ezam.

The People’s Tribunal, which ran from Sept 18 to 22, was formed by Bersih to hear evidence about the alleged irregularities in the 13th general election.

The five man panel was led by Yash Pal Ghai, a constitutional law expert and head of the constitution advisory support unit of the UN development programme.

The tribunal solely relies on “moral standing” and was boycotted by the Election Commission as well as BN members.

Issues raised throughout the five days included the indelible ink, bribery, intimidation, and money politics.

Ambiga: Premature to debate now
However, Ambiga told FMT later she decided not to debate with Yuktes because it was premature to discuss the tribunal’s finding when it was incomplete.

She also stressed that no topic was set beforehand when both of them agreed to enter a debate.

“I agreed to debate with him on a topic suitable for both of us. I thought it was about Bersih or anything related to Bersih.

“But he kept insisting to the moderators later that he only wanted to debate about the findings,” she said.

Ambiga said she would leave it to the public to read Yuktes’s Facebook or twitter postings since this morning to ascertain his true intention of wanting the debate.

“As far as the findings are concerned, once the report is out, we would be very happy to discuss it with anyone,” she said.