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Penang: Will there be snap polls? UMNO would fear that!
Posted on July 11, 2016

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Lim Guan Eng, Penang CM, sends demand letter to The Star for alleged defamation. He objects to an article by Joseline Tan.

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The Star

THE noise level over Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s corruption charges has yet to subside but talk is rife of a snap election in Penang.

Speculation of snap polls in the state has taken on a life of its own despite the deafening silence on the part of DAP’s top-most leaders. It is hard to tell whether the silence is a sign that something is brewing or that the leaders are not keen.

The move would make Penang the only state other than Sarawak to go it alone and the implications are immense.

The snap election idea, according to a DAP insider, was first floated during the DAP central executive committee (CEC) on the afternoon after Guan Eng was charged in court.

Emotions were still raw after a dramatic morning that saw Guan Eng facing two charges of abuse of power and businesswoman Phang Li Koon, from whom he purchased his Pinhorn Road bungalow, charged for abetment in the transaction.

Top on the meeting’s agenda was to discuss whether Guan Eng should take leave from his Chief Minister office. The question was quickly settled because the consensus was that he should stay put.

This party is famous for demanding that politicians resign for issues big and small but given the sense of siege in the party that day, it would not have been the done thing for any of the DAP leaders to suggest that Guan Eng go on leave. In fact, it would have been the death knell for anyone foolish enough to propose it.

After it was decided that Guan Eng would stay on as Chief Minister, a party veteran, described as “one of the most tame personalities”, mooted the idea of a snap state election.

It would show their opponents in Barisan Nasional who is the boss in Penang, the party would be able to ride on public sympathy and the people would get the chance to reaffirm their support.
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The silence from the two Lims and the leaders in Penang speaks volumes. They can see danger signs in the idea and they are not going anywhere near it.

Moreover, said the DAP insider, there are voices from beyond Penang who say that the party must come first. Going for a state election because of one man is not on for them.

Besides, they are not sure what will come out when the trial proper begins later this year.

Some of them are spooked by talk of new charges stemming from the controversial Taman Manggis land in George Town. Stories about a Penang-born fund manager based in Hong Kong and his links with Penang politicians have also begun to circulate in a way that seem to point to something big in the making.

Then there is talk that the authorities are investigating the manner by which the former Penang racecourse stretch of land was rezoned. All this has added to the unsettling times.

There are simply too many fires all over the place and a snap state election could be the biggest blaze of all.

For the whole article:

http://www.thestar.com.my/opinion/columnists/analysis/2016/07/17/snap-election-for-penang/

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17 July 2016

malaysiakini.com ‏@malaysiakini

Penang CM sends demand letter to The Star for alleged defamation

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has sent English daily The Star a demand letter over a column today said to be defamatory towards him.

“I have instructed my lawyers to send a legal notice of demand for defamation against The Star and its columnist Joceline Tan for its false and misleading report today, ‘Snap election for Penang?’.”

Lim said the article said “nothing new” but Tan “clearly crossed the line, and was made in bad faith to smear my reputation and image with fresh and baseless allegations of impropriety”.

He said this was not the first time Tan and the daily had defamed him, citing a suit in 2012 in which The Star eventually apologised.

The present article, he said, follows a pattern of media attacks against him.

“BN-controlled media like The Star had persistently demonised and continued their character assassination against me after two trumped-up charges of corruption were filed against me by the attorney-general on June 30, 2016,” said the DAP secretary-general in a statement.

“In the past four months, the BN-controlled print and broadcasting media had gone into overdrive with their systematic campaign of character assassination against me by hurling unfounded allegations of corruption involving the sale by open tender of one acre of Taman Manggis land.

“Despite nightly TV reports and acres of newsprint on Taman Manggis land, no corruption charge was filed against me relating to Taman Manggis,” said Lim.

However, he said, he was eventually charged with a matter unrelated to the said land.

“Such dirty tricks continue with more false allegations on other matters.”

https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/348844?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

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