“I am not accusing them of anything but I believe the people needs to know this since DAP took over Penang and has been leading the state for so many years”
GEORGE TOWN: Penang UMNO today echoed fears raised by Home Minister Dato’ Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that gambling kingpins could end up funding political parties during the upcoming general election (READ HERE)
Its Liaison chairman, Dato’ Seri Zainal Abidin Osman, expressed the need for the DAP to come clean on its funding, saying the people needed to know who was financing the party or how it obtained the funds.
“I am not accusing them of anything but I believe the people needs to know this since DAP took over Penang and has been leading the state for so many years,” he said.
Speaking at a press conference after launching the Penang Bumiputera Development Strategic Plan 2017, Zainal noted the DAP never once revealed its source of funding despite being able to implement various development programmes in Penang.
Zainal was alluding to the fact that operating expenses incurred by the current state government was 500-fold the associated costs borne by the previous administration under BN.
“We all know DAP has been running the state for almost 10 years now and in this period, the DAP-led state government organised all sorts of activities including fancy dinner events.
“They organise events almost every night and we know such events required a lot of funding so the people need to know where the money comes from and how they managed to fund these political activities,” an online daily quoted Zainal as saying.
The Lim Guan Eng led state government has been enduring heavy fire in recent days following calls by BN’s strategic communications team for the Chief Minister to come clean on his administration’s financing and revenue streams.
In a statement yesterday, the team voiced frustration over the DAP’s failure to answer questions it had repeatedly addressed to Guan Eng.
“All these questions are relevant to the future of Penang and its people ― especially in light of the recent confirmation by the state government that yearly state operating expenses have increased 500 per cent since DAP took over in 2008,” the team said.
