Guan Eng: Call for fresh elections in Perak
By Regina Lee, The Edge
GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to "be magnanimous" and call for fresh state elections in Perak just as he was magnanimous about the Barisan Nasional (BN) not contesting in the Penanti by-election.
While welcoming Najib's announcement not to contest in the by-election on May 31, Lim said Najib should let Perakians decide on who they wanted to govern the state, which was now ungovernable.
"Najib should show to all that he is magnanimous as a prime minister to allow that (fresh elections) to happen.
"What is happening now is not helping anyone and the Perak people should have their final say and everyone can get down to work on overcoming the economic crisis," Lim added.
Asked if he was relieved that the BN was not contesting in Penanti, leaving Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) candidate Dr Mansor Othman to face a flurry of independent candidates, Lim said: "I will only be relieved if fresh state elections are called in Perak.
"There is nothing to boast about the BN not contesting in Penanti. I welcome the decision made by Najib and I believe he is just following the decision made by his father (Tun Abdul Razak) in 1976, when the BN did not contest the Menglembu by election in Perak.
"He has his own reasons for not doing so and the Penang state government welcomes BN's decision not to contest as this is part of the democratic process too — to contest or not to contest.
"Despite BN's decision, the DAP will work hard to ensure a victory for the PKR as a win is not a guarantee.
"There are no guarantees in life, and the only guarantee is uncertainties," Lim said after officiating the Penang Real Estate conference organised by InvestPenang, Socio Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI) which was sponsored by IJM Land Berhad.
Asked if BN's decision was good for the nation's democratic process, Lim said as long as there was a contest and the people had a right to choose, it was democratic.
"Even independent candidates have a right to contest and we will not take them lightly and continue to work hard for a Pakatan Rakyat victory," he said.
With BN's decision not to contest, PKR is expected to breeze through the by-election with an easy victory despite several independent candidates having voiced their intention to contest.
Now, the floodgates will be opened even wider and it is expected that the contest will be a free-for-all, with more independents wanting to have a piece of the action with BN staying out.
The seat, held by PKR, is within the Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency, the stronghold of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
PKR's candidate Mansor, 59, a former USM professor, served as the dean of its policy research faculty before joining Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as his political secretary.
After 1998, he was appointed as the Penang PKR chairman and has contested thrice on a PKR ticket during the 1999, 2004 and 2008 general elections but failed to secure any seats.
Now, the Penang PKR deputy chairman is hoping to be fourth-time lucky to retain the seat for PKR.
The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of state assemblyman and former deputy chief minister 1 Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, who won by a 2,219 vote majority after obtaining 7,346 votes to Umno's Datuk Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid who obtained 5,127 votes in the 2008 general election.
