Ghani slams Pakatan’s ‘one-term millionaires’

The firebrand NGO leader says Umno leaders needed 50 years to land themselves in lavish homes, but Pakatan reps in Penang did it in three.

GEORGE TOWN: Umno leaders, according to Suara Anak-Anak Malaysia chairman Mohamed Ghani Abdul Jiman, took more than 50 years in power to purchase lavish homes.

However, he said Pakatan Rakyat representatives were dwelling in luxury within three years of seizing control of Penang.

These representatives, he added, lived in double and triple-storey bungalows as well as posh townhouses.

“Umno politicians needed 50 over years to buy such houses but current elected representatives only needed one term to become millionaires. I have evidence to prove my allegations,” he said.

After a long hiatus, the firebrand Ghani led several pro-Umno NGOs to stage their outine post-Friday prayers anti-Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng protest outside Masjid Jamek some 50m from Komtar this afternoon.

Unlike the last riot-like street demonstration against the state government on July 1, this time the protest was a tame affair with about 10 people taking part.

Media representatives and police personnel at the scene outnumbered the protesters.

Despite the poor turnout, the protesters however did not lose their sting when attacking Lim and his administration.

‘Jump off the Penang bridge or Komtar’

The demolition of Malay and Mamak-owned eatery outlets on the island was the main issue of their protest.

“We wish Selamat Hari Raya to all victims of Lim’s brutal rule. The current state government only demolishes Malay and Indian shops, not Chinese shops.

“I am not a racist. I only want a government which is fair to all,” said Ghani, who is also the vice-chairman of the Coalition of Islamic NGOs Penang.

He urged Lim to step down if he could not return the items seized from the demolished outlets, including from his shop.

“If he can’t return my belongings, I will present him with a special gift soon,” warned Ghani, who also heads another unregistered NGO, Suara Anak-Anak Mamak Pulau Pinang.

The protesters displayed three anti-state government banners and chanted anti-Lim slogans, where the chief minister was condemned as a “communist, coward and ‘pondan’ (transvestite)”.

Shouting at the top of his voice, Ghani called on curious onlookers to reject Lim because “the Malaccan was not a Chinese but a communist.”

He called on Lim to quit and go back to Malacca immediately and repeated similar calls on the chief minister’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik, who is also the Komtar assemblyman.

Ghani also suggested that Lim jump down from either the Penang Bridge or the Komtar building to save Penang.