He was responding to a Barisan Nasional (BN) leader who characterised him as too eager to have a debate at a time when Muslims were fasting and deep in prayer.

“Najib challenged me to a debate in Ramadan, and I just accepted that challenge in the same month. If I did not accept his challenge, he would say that I am not brave.

“Now he is saying, ‘let’s do this after Ramadan’. I am okay with that,” he said in a Facebook post.

Selangor BN information chief Isham Jalil yesterday criticised Anwar for wanting to hold the debate during Ramadan, saying the PKR president should respect those who are fasting and carrying out tarawih prayers.

Meanwhile, Anwar was told that Najib’s camp was keen on having the debate aired live on Malaysia Gazette, to which he said he had no objection.

“My response was that they don’t need to just call Malaysia Gazette alone. We can call Sinar Harian, RTM, TV3 or others too. So long as the debate reaches the rakyat.”

On April 3, Najib accepted Rafizi Ramli’s invitation for a debate on Sapura Energy, and told the PKR vice-president to invite Anwar to join too.

Sapura Energy, a government-linked company (GLC), had announced a loss of RM8.9 billion last year, which Najib said was the largest for any Malaysian GLC in history.

Najib has been pushing for a bailout of the company, while Rafizi is against the idea.