Guan Eng: Zahid's call to emigrate makes no sense

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has lashed out at the new home minister for going overboard by asking those who were not happy with the general election to migrate to another country.

"If this is the standard used by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, should we also ask Penang BN supporters to leave the state?" Lim (right) asked during his speech at a public forum in Komtar last night.

"His statement does not make sense at all.”

In the recent polls, the coalition in Penang, lead by the the DAP secretary-general, swept to power, wining 30 out of 40 seats in the state with impressive majorities.

According to Lim, Pakatan has also managed to secure 66 percent of the popular vote in Penang, a three percent increase from 2008.

However, he said his administration was different from BN who is "envious and revengeful" towards those who support Pakatan Rakyat.

He cited the example of Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said who purportedly withdrew facilities earlier provided to four parliamentary constituencies won by Pakatan in the just-concluded general election.

"The Pakatan government in Penang will treat everyone fairly, we would take care of all regardless of race, religion and political affiliation, including those who support BN.

"This is democracy, we respect your choice, and (will) not treat you cruelly by seeking revenge against you (for not supporting us)," he added.

Zahid, in hismaiden comment as Home Minister, had yesterday said in an editorial piece inUtusan Malaysiathat the opposition not satisfied with the country's electoral system, can "migrate elsewhere".

This system saw BN winning 133 parliamentary seats on May 5, and forming the government with a simple majority, despite Pakatan bagging 51.78 percent of the popular vote to get 89 seats.

The Minister, who replaces Hishamuddin Hussein in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's new cabinet line-up, also condemned the Pakatan-organised ‘Black 505' rallies, which he described as illegal.

The nationwide rallies, which continue to attract mammoth crowds, were held in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Johor and Pahang following Pakatan's loss in 13th general election.

According to Zahid further, these “illegal” gatherings were held to hide Pakatan's failure to win over Putrajaya, although the coalition did not dispute the results in Penang, Selangor and Kelantan, where they won.

But Lim said that the unfairness of the Malaysian election system which benefitted BN - via fraud and gerrymandering - cannot be simply ignored.

He added that Pakatan will seek justice in the many cases of "fraud", which its team members have discovered.

"We will demand for genuine reforms in the election system, including the redelineation process which the Election Commission (EC) says it would carry out this year ," he said.

"Only with a clean electoral system can democracy be salvaged in Malaysia.

"Don't let the majority of Malaysian citizens be governed by a minority group because this would be a loss to those who actually won (in the polls)," he stressed.