I'm ready for reasonable discourse, says Najib

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has expressed willingness to discuss political issues with any reasonable man or woman.

"As a politician in a democratic state, having some people say bad things about me is inevitable. If I can't handle this, then I've made the wrong career choice.

"That much I accept. I am happy to have a discourse on politics with any reasonable man or woman and appreciate lively political discourse," he said in his official blog in a post titled "The Truth About Malaysia" yesterday.

Meanwhile, Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research programmes director Ibrahim Suffian said young voters want "freshness" in politics through live debates rather than personal attacks.

"A debate would enable leaders to showcase their abilities, articulate complex ideas to the layman, propose solutions and persuade people on why their coalition is the best," he said yesterday.

The centre released a survey yesterday showing 67% of young voters between the age of 21 and 30 supported the idea of a debate between Najib and Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The peninsula-wide telephone survey of 1,022 randomly-selected voters was carried out between Feb 10 and 23.