KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 2 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said today he was prepared to take on his predecessor from the Barisan Nasional (BN) in a nationally-televised debate without any conditions set.
But the DAP secretary-general said Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had shown what he described as his trademark indecisiveness and evasiveness by setting pre-conditions for the debate to happen.
Lim added that if Koh was not prepared to debate him without any pre-conditions, “how can he stand up to Umno’s corruption and political dominance that denies equal political rights, equal economic opportunities and socio-economic justice?”
“Koh should explain his double standards and inconsistency of fighting corruption when he can support BN leaders associated with corruption.
“How he can talk of political morality and ethics but yet support the BN candidate for Bagan Pinang who was suspended for money politics in Umno and described as unsuitable by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad?”
Yesterday, Koh said he was prepared to debate Lim provided the Penang CM publicly disclosed the full text of all minutes related to discussions on the Kampung Buah Pala issue in all state executive council meetings during the previous BN and current Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administrations.
The current and previous state administrations have been engaging in recent months in a verbal battle over who is to blame for the Kampung Buah Pala land dispute.
Lim has blamed Koh and BN for alienating the village land for redevelopment without settling the question of compensation for villagers who claimed they had lived there for generations.
BN leaders have implied that it was Lim’s government which had ultimately signed off on the deal just weeks into their administration last year.
The Federal Court had decided, however, that the villagers had no legal standing in a lawsuit they had filed against the developer, and ordered their eviction to proceed.
Last month, the villagers were evicted after Lim’s government succeeded in obtaining the developer’s agreement to build double-storey houses to replace their homes.
Lim said today that he was prepared to even have a debate at Koh’s Gerakan headquarters to “ensure Koh does not wriggle out of the nationally-televised debate with evasive tactics.”
“Under pressure to prove his courage, Koh has pretended to accept the nationally-televised debate. The pre-conditions Koh placed for the debate give the impression that Koh has no sincerity at all to debate.
“All this clearly shows that Koh’s indecisiveness and evasiveness has not changed at all, even after the 308 political tsunami. He is still the same Koh Tsu Koon. He lost more than 10,000 votes during the 2008 general election, precisely because of his indecisive and evasive nature.”
MI
02/10/09
But the DAP secretary-general said Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon had shown what he described as his trademark indecisiveness and evasiveness by setting pre-conditions for the debate to happen.
Lim added that if Koh was not prepared to debate him without any pre-conditions, “how can he stand up to Umno’s corruption and political dominance that denies equal political rights, equal economic opportunities and socio-economic justice?”
“Koh should explain his double standards and inconsistency of fighting corruption when he can support BN leaders associated with corruption.
“How he can talk of political morality and ethics but yet support the BN candidate for Bagan Pinang who was suspended for money politics in Umno and described as unsuitable by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad?”
Yesterday, Koh said he was prepared to debate Lim provided the Penang CM publicly disclosed the full text of all minutes related to discussions on the Kampung Buah Pala issue in all state executive council meetings during the previous BN and current Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administrations.
The current and previous state administrations have been engaging in recent months in a verbal battle over who is to blame for the Kampung Buah Pala land dispute.
Lim has blamed Koh and BN for alienating the village land for redevelopment without settling the question of compensation for villagers who claimed they had lived there for generations.
BN leaders have implied that it was Lim’s government which had ultimately signed off on the deal just weeks into their administration last year.
The Federal Court had decided, however, that the villagers had no legal standing in a lawsuit they had filed against the developer, and ordered their eviction to proceed.
Last month, the villagers were evicted after Lim’s government succeeded in obtaining the developer’s agreement to build double-storey houses to replace their homes.
Lim said today that he was prepared to even have a debate at Koh’s Gerakan headquarters to “ensure Koh does not wriggle out of the nationally-televised debate with evasive tactics.”
“Under pressure to prove his courage, Koh has pretended to accept the nationally-televised debate. The pre-conditions Koh placed for the debate give the impression that Koh has no sincerity at all to debate.
“All this clearly shows that Koh’s indecisiveness and evasiveness has not changed at all, even after the 308 political tsunami. He is still the same Koh Tsu Koon. He lost more than 10,000 votes during the 2008 general election, precisely because of his indecisive and evasive nature.”
MI
02/10/09
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