Guan Eng, Ambiga squabble over Dr Mahathir

(The Star) – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng turned the tables against social activist Ambiga Sreevanasan at a conference and questioned why she was working with former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“You are working with Mahathir. Why are you doing this? Are you forgiving him for what he has done (to the country)?” Lim asked during a hard-hitting session at the International Malaysia Law Conference 2016 here Thursday.

In a move regarded as “unprecedented” by Ambiga considering that she was the moderator of the session, she responded by saying that even Lim’s father DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang was willing to work with Dr Mahathir.

“The forgiveness issue has never arisen. I see it as a necessity; we are facing a ‘greater evil’,” said the former Bar Council president.

Ambiga said the collaboration with Dr Mahathir was a necessity, adding that no discussion on realignment was raised because “one cannot change the way how a 91-year-old man behaves”.

“For me it is simple. It is a political reality. The country must come first,” she answered.

On a separate matter, after being grilled by questions from Universiti Malaya Political Economics professor Terence Gomez, Lim challenged him to check into DAP’s monetary accounts.

Gomez said the Opposition was not supporting the initiative for political funding drawn up by him and Transparency International (Malaysia) before the 13th general election.

“I welcome the idea of transparency and I invite you to scrutinise DAP’s political funding because we have no money. I wish we had one billion but we don’t,” said Lim who is DAP secretary-general.

“From the roundtable discussion involving members of the Opposition, I was informed that you said no,” answered Gomez before the discussion was stopped by Ambiga.