When told that Pakatan Harapan candidate for Semenyih Muhammad Aiman Zainali sometimes had trouble communicating his answers to reporters' questions, Harapan Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman – once a champion debater himself – said that the candidate should be judged by his actions, especially his interactions with the local community.

Previously, Aiman said that he would decline Bersih's offer to participate in the debate, noting that he would prefer to focus on meeting voters during the two-week by-election campaign period.