Abdul Rahman Dahlan (left) and Lim Guan Eng
PETALING JAYA: TV3 has postponed the proposed debate between Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Lim Guan Eng on the Taman Manggis land issue following advice from the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
The network, which was originally supposed to televise the debate live on Apr 19, backed down after taking into consideration the views expressed by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and MACC’s investigations director Datuk Azam Baki.
“TV3 respects the opinion of Tan Sri Khalid and Datuk Azam that the debate may interfere with the authorities’ investigations on the Taman Manggis land controversy and Lim’s bungalow purchase,” said Media Prima Bhd Group Managing Editor of News & Current Affairs (TV Networks) Datuk Seri Mohd Ashraf Abdullah.
He said a new date for the debate would be announced later.
Abdul Rahman, who is Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, had earlier this month challenged the Penang Chief Minister to a debate over the two property issues in the state.
Lim duly accepted the challenge, with both RTM and TV3 indicating their readiness to televise the session live.
However, the proposed debate was opposed by the MACC and the police over concerns that it could jeopardise ongoing investigations and prejudice witnesses in the case.
In a tweet on Friday night, Khalid urged all TV stations to cancel the live debate until the case is settled.
“@PDRMsia agrees with @SPRMMalaysia, the Manggis bungalow debate should be cancelled. Police investigations are still ongoing. Key witnesses, including the Chief Minister have not been called,” he tweeted.
The Special Committee on Corruption (SCC) chaired by Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang had also recently advised against proceeding with the debate, asking those with information and evidence on the case to hand their documents over to MACC instead of having an open debate.
