After failing to defeat Penang Pakatan in the last general election, the Najib Abdul Razak administration is now abusing all its paws of power to politically persecute its leaders to cripple the opposition before the general election.
The DAP condemns the politically-motivated persecution of Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng for alleged corruption.
He is expected to be charged in the Penang Sessions Court under Section 23 of the MACC Act and Section 165 of the Penal Code.
The first charge relates to alleged abuse of power with regards to the re-zoning of land, and the second concerns the bungalow, which he is accused of acquiring below market price.
Over the past few months, the chief minister and the Penang state government have demonstrated proof that there was no impropriety in Lim’s purchase of the bungalow as there was no contracts or benefits granted to the seller, whether directly or indirectly.
Hence the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) move to prosecute Lim, which coincided with the resignation of the top two MACC officials just days earlier, is clearly designed to destroy him politically.
It also demonstrates the Najib administration’s sense of invincibility after the convincing wins in Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Besar by-elections.
The prime minister is seizing the opportunity further weaken the opposition after imprisoning PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, before possibly calling an early election next year.
This is not the first time Lim Guan Eng is being persecuted by the Barisan Nasional government.
He was arrested in 1994 for criticising the government's failure to bring then-chief minister of Malacca, Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik's statutory rape case to trial when the attorney-general had decided not to press charges.
Lim was then charged under Section 4(1)(b) of the Sedition Act 1948 and the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984. He was sentence to 18 months jail and served time in Kajang prison.
Despite his incarceration, Lim never lost the trust of the people and was immediately voted back into Parliament and the Penang state assembly in 2008.
He has since proven the opposition’s ability to rule in Malaysia and transformed Penang into the most envied state in the country.
We believe in Lim Guan Eng’s integrity and innocence and we will stand resolutely with him to fight these charges which are made without legal basis.
We call upon all Malaysians who believes in a competent, accountable and transparent government to stand together with Lim Guan Eng, with the DAP and Pakatan Harapan, to fight the corrupt and repressive Barisan Nasional regime.
