“Penang is bigger than Lim and the Chief Minister should stop having this inflated opinion about himself”
KUALA LUMPUR: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng must stop thinking so highly of himself by issuing “veiled threats” against the people of Penang.
Barisan Nasional Strategic Communications (BNSC) deputy director Eric See-To urged Lim to face his corruption charges head-on without trying to “spin” the stories surrounding the case.
“According to a news report, Penang CM had warned that his prosecution for corruption puts the state administration’s welfare programmes on the line and that the needy in Penang will suffer.
“BNSC strongly condemns this veiled threat which we see as an attempt for Guan Eng to mock and undermine our legal system.
“Penang is bigger than Lim and the Chief Minister should stop having this inflated opinion about himself,” he said in a statement today.
Lim earlier today claimed that Penang folk were angry that a leader of a clean government has been charged with corruption and were afraid that his incarceration would affect the state’s i-Sejahtera welfare programme.
However, Eric pointed out that Lim was not alone in running the DAP-led government as there are other leaders in the state administration.
“If the current DAP Penang government is unable to continue taking care of the interest of the Penang people without Guan Eng then the entire Penang exco should resign for being incompetent.
“It is unfair to the people of Penang that their Chief Minister continues to make history as the first and only leader of a state who is clinging to his office despite facing multiple corruption charges,” Eric added.
Lim is facing two graft charges, one for allegedly abusing his power to approve the rezoning application by Magnificent Emblem to convert agricultural land to residential, and another over his purchase of his RM2.8 million house from businesswoman Phang Li Khoon at below market value of RM4.27 million.
He could be sentenced to jail time of no more than 20 years and a fine of five times the value of gratification or RM10,000 whichever is higher if convicted for the first charge and up to two years’ imprisonment, a fine and forfeiture of property upon conviction for the second charge.
Source: NST Online
