DAP has now become the target of systematic attacks by BN and Umno to divert attention from their own mounting problems, said veteran leader Lim Kit Siang.

Lim said this comes because news of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's financial scandals and the Citizen's Declaration could not simply be swept under the rug.

"DAP is now the target of a systematic attack by Umno/BN leaders, propagandists and cybertroopers - starting with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and me," he said in a speech in Balakong yesterday.

The issue of Guan Eng’s bungalow purchase, alleged to be well below market price, has been grabbing headlines since last week.

Lim said the attackers were also insinuating that this issue likens Guan Eng to former Umno Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohamed Khir Toyo, who has been convicted of corruption over his property purchase.

"There is no basis, whatsoever, for such a comparison," Lim insisted.

The person who sold Khir Toyo two plots of land and a bungalow at RM3.5 million said that he did so for fear of jeopardising his housing projects in Selangor, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, Lim added, the previous owner of Guan Eng's bungalow, Phang Li Koon, has made a statutory declaration (SD) denying that she is involved with the Penang government.

Lim said accusations that the chief minister had sacrificed the housing interests of Penangites, as Taman Manggis was initially meant for low-cost housing development, were unfounded.

Low cost low blow

The chief minister had already explained the state found the one-acre Taman Manggis land to be insufficient for low-cost housing development and replaced it with the 11-acre plot on Jalan SP Chelliah, which is also a better location than Taman Manggis, he said.

"I would have thought that this should deserve appreciation and commendation, instead of condemnation and calumny," lamented Lim, who is Gelang Patah MP and Guan Eng’s father.

He also said that he too was called in for questioning by the police yesterday for his remarks on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong's address at the opening of Parliament on March 7.

"I expect the next step would be to charge me under the Sedition Act and to get me disqualified as a member of parliament if I am convicted of sedition," he said.

Lim had commented on the royal address saying the Agong had merely read out a speech prepared by the government.

Police reports were subsequently lodged against Lim, claiming that his statement undermined the credibility of the royal institution.

The assault on DAP comes as the war between Najib and his predecessor and long-running former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad heats up with the Citizen's Declaration and the ex-Umno veteran’s lawsuit against the PM.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, DAP's Tanjong MP Ng Wei Aik called Umno's efforts against Guan Eng as "overkill", adding that Umno was just hoping to play up extensively on one single issue of his bungalow purchase to wrest back Penang for BN.

"BN's relentless attacks on Lim Guan Eng are akin to killing an ant with a sledgehammer. It is no more a simple anti-corruption issue.

"BN's propaganda machinery is aiming to undermine Guan Eng's personal integrity as well as to uproot DAP's power base in Penang," Ng ( photo ) said.

He noted that the BN-controlled media has provided prominent coverage on this issue every day for the past week, "as if the scandals of RM2.6 billion or SRC's RM42 million are no longer important".

Even despite the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) having opened an investigation into the matter, Umno would continue lodging reports to MACC, he said.

"The latest report by Umno to MACC even claimed that Guan Eng will definitely know the market price of his property purchase due to his accountant background," Ng said.

Guan Eng not a property valuer

Guan Eng is not a valuer, he pointed out, and would not know the land or property value before it is properly evaluated by a registered valuer.

The sub-sale of a property can still be done even without an evaluation conducted before the signing of a sale and purchase agreement, he said.

"It is not necessary for Guan Eng to know the market price before anyone can sell him a property," Ng said.

He also wondered why Mohd Ali Baharom, better known as Ali Tinju, would be staging a protest outside the chief minister's house today.

"Does it mean that Umno has no confidence in MACC for its investigation on Lim Guan Eng, due to the latter’s powerful grip on MACC?" he asked sarcastically.

Ng reminded that Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan had claimed that the successful bidder of the Taman Manggis land would sell that land to a third party at a quoted price of RM20 million.

"However, such a price tag has conflicted with the land price quoted by Gerakan in 2012, whereby Gerakan leaders at that point in time even claimed the market price of the land shall stand at RM22,407,300," he pointed out.

How can the same piece of land now sell for RM20 million, which is RM2 million less than its market price in 2012, he asked.

"It is either Gerakan’s Penang state secretary Oh Tong Keong told a lie, or Rahman Dahlan made up a story out of his personal imagination?" he wondered.

"Lim Guan Eng is definitely the most difficult political enemy for Umno, MCA and Gerakan. Without getting rid of Lim Guan Eng, BN has no way to break DAP’s power base in Penang.

"However, all DAP leaders and members will not allow Guan Eng to fight alone the Umno’s conspiracy, including all sorts of lies and unfounded accusations levelled on Guan Eng," Ng vowed.