Rafizi, Syahir to face off in live economic debate tonight

The debate will be aired live on RTM and Astro Awani at 9.30pm. It will be moderated by representatives of both media organisations, Syed Munawar and Dzulfitri Yusop.

The organisation of the debate followed Rafizi's unsuccessful attempts to engage other Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders, including former International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor.

Syahir ultimately accepted the official invitation to participate in the debate, which is expected to cover various aspects of Malaysia's New Economic Model.

In a tweet today, Syahir, a first-time federal lawmaker representing Bachok, shared his thoughts on the opportunity to debate a minister.

Political analyst Mujibu Abdul Muis expressed the view that the debate may have limited impact on voters' decisions ahead of the six state elections on August 12.

"In terms of luring the votes, I don't think it will help much because the grassroots have already decided who they will vote for in the election," Muis said.

Notably, both Rafizi and Syahir will not be contesting the elections.

Mujibu also offered insights into the expected dynamics of the debate. "The battle between the two will be highly anticipated. As the economy minister, we want to hear a new formula from (Rafizi) because he has been pushing this kind of (existing) policy since he was in opposition. We'd like to see if he can come up with new ideas and how these ideas can be implemented.

""We expect Syahir to 'attack' on issues such as policy and put forward alternative economic proposals. Given his background as an economist, we also expect Syahir to come up with good ideas.'

A pre-debate discussion will take place on Astro AWANI starting at 8.30pm.