Tengku Adnan refuses Husam debate invite

There’s no way Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor is going to give in to his opponent in Putrajaya, Husam Musa’s request for a debate.

‘My answer is no,” the veteran politician told us. So, why not?

“I’m not interested to debate about my kawasan (constituency) which I’ve responsibly retained for the last two terms. I’m busy looking into the other important matters for my kawasan. The people of Putrajaya are like a close-knit family to me,” he said.

Husam, in what is considered to be a bold move, is vying for the Putrajaya seat, held securely for two terms by Tengku Adnan.

The PAS vice-president had on Tuesday sent a letter to Tengku Adnan requesting a debate to iron out key issues concerning Putrajaya.

READ: Wedding photo 'stolen', used on Tengku Adnan campaign banner

“My assistant has informed me that he (Husam) had the letter sent to me yesterday (Tuesday) but I’ve not seen it,” Tengku Adnan said.

In his view, Husam should just stay focused on ways to further improve his grip in the administrative capital rather than channeling his resources on the debate.

“Husam might just as well focus on his impending defamation suit against blogger Syed Azidi Abdul Aziz. He can even extend the debate to Syed Azidi if he wishes to. As I mentioned earlier, I’m not interested in the debate at all,” he stressed.

In February, Husam filed a RM10 million defamation suit against Syed Azidi, popularly known through his political blog, ‘Kickdefella’ after Syed Azidi implied that the PAS vice-president had abused his power in a Malay tabloid published in July last year.

“He might as well invite the blogger,” he quipped.

Syed Azidi has until May 22 to respond to the suit filed by Husam who is also a Kelantan exco member .
Husam claimed that the alleged defamatory statement was published with malicious intent and had injured his reputation and credibility.