RTM not airing Dr M-Nazri debate
Salleh: It’s purely between them and not organised by us
KUALA LUMPUR: RTM will not be airing a live telecast of the debate between former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the debate, scheduled to take place in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, on March 25, was purely between the two individuals.
“The debate is not organised by RTM...We don’t have plans to air the live telecast of the debate,” he told a press conference here today.
Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said his ministry had approved the permit application for the debate after receiving it from the organiser.
The debate, to be held at the Sultan Azlan Shah Mara Junior Science College (MRSM), has been the talk of the town lately as it would touch on issues including the Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) scandal.
Meanwhile, Salleh said the act of
sabotaging the country’s economy by making baseless allegations was a serious matter.
He said allegations by the Opposition, such as Malaysia was now an unstable country, its Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has almost gone bankrupt and the Government could not afford to pay the salaries of civil servants, were irresponsible.
“The Opposition should criticise the Government in a constructive manner and based on facts as the act of sabotaging the economy will be detrimental to Malaysians as a whole,” Salleh said.
The minister was commenting on the statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak yesterday that Malaysia almost lost a huge investment from Saudi Aramco due to the unpatriotic attitude of certain quarters who channelled incorrect information on this country to the Saudi Arabian oil company.
Salleh urged the people not to trust unverified information on social media and to refer to sebenarnya.my, a one-stop web portal developed to curb the spread of false news and for the public to check on the authenticity of news spread through social media.
“The Government is responsible in providing accurate information to its people. The sebenarnya.my portal is one of the Government’s initiatives to provide real news to the society in rebutting slanders being spread on the social media,” he said. — Bernama