Umno information chief Annuar Musa has included a moral twist to the saga surrounding Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s purchase of a bungalow below market price.

"He has to accept the fact [...] From a moral standpoint it was wrong.

"As a public servant, the world knows he bought the asset at an unreasonable price.

"No way he would have gotten the bungalow for that price if it wasn't for his position as chief minister. [...] If it was 10 or 20 percent (less) that's ok, but this is almost half (the price)," he was quoted as saying by Umno Online .

Lim, who had been renting the house from 2009, said he had struck a deal with the owner to fix the price at RM2.8 million years before the purchase.

Detractors however said Lim secured the house at a low price in exchange for selling state land in Taman Manggis, a charge which the DAP leader denied.

Among the chief critics is BN communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan, who challenged Lim to a public debate over the land deal.

The debate however was called off after inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said it would harm their investigations into the chief minister.

However, the DAP secretary-general said this was an attempt to save Abdul Rahman from the debate.

Annuar however said it was Lim who needed the debate to happen.

"Save Abdul Rahman from what? The one facing a problem is Lim. Abdul Rahman has nothing to lose.

"The truth is that Lim needs this platform to enable him to defend himself, but for me, he's not defending himself at the right place," he said, adding that Lim should be answering to the MACC, not Abdul Rahman.