Why the need for Penang and Selangor elections

Lim Guan Eng wants to hold new state elections for Penang not for the reasons stated but so that he can strengthen his hold on the state and get rid of his enemies. He also wants to make sure that when he goes to jail his cronies and not his enemies get to take over. And Azmin Ali wants to tumpang semangkuk or hitch a ride and do the same thing in Selangor.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Guan Eng: I may go to jail

(The Star) – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has said that he will most likely be sent to jail over corruption charges. He claimed that the charges of graft and abuse of power were a political conspiracy by Barisan Nasional.

“Everyone knows that Lim cannot be saved. Even though Lim cannot be saved, the state can still be saved, so that is why we need the state election,” he told the reporters after launching a symposium at Penang Institute on Saturday morning. (READ MORE HERE)

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Apandi warns Guan Eng over comments on graft charges

(The Star) – Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali has issued a final warning to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to stop commenting on the criminal charges he currently faces.

Mohamed Apandi added that failing which, he would have to defend himself against the baseless accusations that questioned his integrity and in the course of doing so, may have to disclose evidence that the prosecution had against Lim.

“Suffice to say here at the moment, that most of the evidence against him (Lim) are documentary in nature and all those documents are in my possession,” he said. (READ MORE HERE)

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‘Why can’t they just wait for the general election?’ Penang voters ask

(MMO) – DAP’s proposal for early state elections here received subdued response from voters polled, with most unconvinced of the party’s given reasons for doing so. (READ MORE HERE)

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Those three news items more or less tells the whole story. Lim Guan Eng knows he is going to jail. The Attorney General has revealed they have enough hard evidence to send Guan Eng to jail. And many are not convinced of the reasons for having new state elections in Penang.

In fact, yesterday, Kua Kia Soong said ‘Snap election won’t decide Lim’s innocence’. In that article Kua said:

After the asinine and vexatious ‘Kajang Move’ when Pakatan Rakyat forced a by-election in Kajang in 2014, we now hear the DAP is contemplating a snap election in the entire Penang state. If, as some political analysts have said, this move is motivated by internal DAP power politics to consolidate the power of the incumbent, then it is certainly asinine and vexatious.

And if this is an attempt by the DAP leadership at a so-called “referendum” on the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s beleaguered situation, they should think again. The DAP should know that even if they win a landslide victory at this proposed snap election, it does not decide the verdict of the chief minister’s corruption charges. (READ MORE HERE)

Further to that, the DAP State Assemblyman for Tanjung Bunga said the post of Penang Chief Minister should be restricted to two terms and that Guan Eng should take leave pending the outcome of his trial. And many others within DAP feel the same way although only a few dare say so openly while most whisper in the shadows lest they incur the wrath of the Tokong.

The issue is simple. Guan Eng is going to jail and he knows it. So someone will have to take over when that happens. However, the current ‘hot favourite’ is not aligned to Guan Eng. In fact, it is suspected that he or his people may have been the ‘hantu’ who leaked the information regarding the house deal that got Guan Eng into trouble in the first place.

Guan Eng has to make sure that his people take over when he steps down, which is merely a matter of time. So it is important that Anthony Loke Siew Fook and not Chow Kon Yeow be that new Penang Chief Minister. Hence Guan Eng has to ensure that Loke and his team get in while Chow and his team are ousted. But that can only happen if state-wide elections are held.

So this new Penang state election is not about all those reasons given. It is about an internal power struggle within DAP and Guan Eng’s move to purge the party of his enemies and put all his people into place — plus to make sure he gets to decide his successor. Even Kua Kia Soong sees that, as do many others as well.

And Azmin Ali wants to do the same thing for Selangor. He needs to get rid of those opposed to him and get his people into place. So new state elections for Selangor would also need to be held to achieve that. The Team Azmin versus Team Azizah schism in PKR is very serious. And it has to end with one side having total control and the other side getting totally ousted.

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has given Azmin until September to take control of PKR. That would be when Mahathir’s new party will be ready and the new opposition coalition will be launched. But that new coalition with Mahathir’s new party will never happen if Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail is still the President of PKR. It will happen only if Azmin takes over as the new PKR President.

Wan Azizah is not in favour of dissolving the Penang state assembly to make way for new elections. PKR might get wiped out in Penang if that happens and in the end it is going to be a DAP state government rather than a Pakatan Harapan or DAP-PKR state government. PAN is also upset that the meeting was only between DAP and PKR and that not only were they not invited to the meeting but were not even told about it. So DAP and PKR do not really think much of PAN and is treating them as a mere subsidiary.

Wan Azizah also knows that if Mahathir’s new party is launched then they would be fishing in the same pond that PKR normally fishes. And while PAN will try to take votes away from PAS, Mahathir’s party will be taking votes away from PKR and not from DAP (MCA and Gerakan are supposed to take votes away from DAP). So PKR would more or less be handing its seats over to Mahathir.

Wan Azizah is an obstacle to Mahathir’s plans. Azmin, however, would go along with Mahathir’s plans. So there are no two ways about it: Azmin must oust Wan Azizah and take over. And to control Selangor even tighter, Azmin needs a new state election in Selangor to purge his enemies from the state government.

But Azmin will need DAP to agree to the dissolution of the Selangor state assembly. So he told Guan Eng he would agree to the dissolution of the Penang state assembly if Guan Eng can agree to the same for Selangor. But that can only be done once he takes over as the new PKR President because Wan Azizah will not agree to this plan.