Not double standards as Guan Eng’s case a ‘political conspiracy’, Pakatan parties say

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng being taken away to MACC state headquarters, George Town, June 29, 2016. — Picture by KE Ooi

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KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 — Pakatan Harapan leaders insist DAP’s Lim Guan Eng need not step down during his corruption trial as his charges are allegedly a “political conspiracy” designed to weaken the opposition ahead of the next general election.

They also insisted that their refusal to ask Lim to go on leave pending the outcome of his trial was not hypocritical, arguing that his case differed from when they demanded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak step down over the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) issue.

“We are solidly behind Lim Guan Eng to stay on. He cannot influence the investigation and prosecution against him. Nor can he sack the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner or any police officer or prosecutor,” PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar told Malay Mail Online.

Lim also did not have any authority to affect the proceedings of his trial, the Lembah Pantai MP added.

Citing the example of her father, former deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is serving his second prison sentence for sodomy, Nurul Izzah said that politically-driven charges have been the used against the opposition since his case in 1998.

Anwar and his party maintain that his sodomy conviction was a conspiracy to end his political career.

“Lim Guan Eng’s case is no exception,” Nurul Izzah explained.

Another PKR vice-president, Chua Tian Chang, echoed Nurul Izzah’s views, saying that previous calls for BN leaders to relinquish their positions temporarily were not made without justification.

Chua explained that this was to avoid possible interference in the investigations, something that he said Lim was not in a position to do.

“We do not simply call on other BN leaders to resign, the reason we call for anyone to step aside is if (that person’s position) has implications in the investigation process, or has the potential to tamper with investigations,” the Batu MP told Malay Mail Online.

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