Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has dared Prime Minister Najib Razak to call for an early general election to seek a fresh mandate from Malaysians.

His challenge to Najib to call for snap polls – just as Penang is contemplating it – is over the US Department of Justice’s civil lawsuits against individuals alleged to have siphoned millions from 1MDB.

“I challenge the prime minister to call for national polls, just as Penang is discussing the possibility of snap polls, if he thinks it is all trumped-up charges,” Lim told a press conference in George Town today.