Guan Eng sore with PKR leadership for criticising his action

(The Star) – Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is upset after failing to receive support from PKR over the removal of two of its Penang assemblymen from the boards of state government linked agencies.

Stopping short of accusing the PKR leadership of practising double standards, Lim said he was surprised by the criticism from his allies.

“What the two PKR assemblymen did was similar to what former Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had done before his sacking from the party in 2014.

“Khalid said one thing during their meeting but did some thing else instead. We respected PKR’s decision to sack Khalid then.

“It’s the same situation now but why is PKR not supporting us? Instead, the PKR leadership is trying to get them reinstated.

“Are they saying that they do not agree with what happened to Khalid and want Khalid reinstated too?” he asked during a press conference in Komtar yesterday.

Lim, who is DAP secretary-general, added that he did not think that PKR would want that but there should be consistency as without it, the Opposition’s pact would fail.

He was commenting on the statement by PKR deputy president Azmin Ali that the party would support Bukit Tengah assemblyman Ong Chin Wen and Kebun Bunga assemblyman Cheah Kah Peng who were sacked from their posts in the companies after they abstained from voting over a land reclamation issue in November.

Cheah was removed from the board of the Penang Hill Corpora-tion, while Ong was sacked from investPenang and Island Golf Properties Bhd.

Island Golf is a subsidiary of state investment arm Penang Develop-ment Corporation of which the chief minister is chairman.

“They had done something completely different from what they agreed in the meeting. This is unacceptable in any organisation.

“The problem is they back stabb-ed. If they disagree, why did they agree (earlier), and then take a different position?” he asked.

When asked whether three other PKR assemblymen – Batu Uban’s Dr T. Jeyabalan, Penanti’s Dr Norlela Ariffin and Machang Bubuk’s Lee Khai Loon – would also face the music, Lim said he did not want to take any unnecessary action.

The three had taken a similar stance with Cheah and Ong at the assembly sitting.

“We only look at the main people behind the move. We know the others were only acting on instructions,” he said.