Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan has welcomed ordinary people to hold debates to address polemical issues, specifically on federal and state relations.

The Sabah Barisan Nasional secretary said politicians needed to know when to step aside from partaking in such intellectual discourse so that the people could get correct facts and unbiased views on issues which had created discomfort among them.

"They (discussions) cannot just be done by the government and politicians alone. It also needs to be taken up by the ordinary people," he said.

He was speaking to Bernama when met after an interview on RTM's radio segment Ekspresi Sabah FM here today.

Abdul Rahman said he was pleased to know that a group of young Sabah-born professionals of different races and religious background had formed a non-governmental organisation, 'Centre of Society Empowerment and Democratic Studies' with the aim of responding to such polemical issues with facts and figures.