No case against Guan Eng, it's about Umno's twilight days

Is Lim Guan Eng, the Penang Chief Minister, being persecuted for his success in administering a state government or has he done something really wrong?

While Umno and entire BN-controlled media have gone berserk in asking for their "pound of flesh" from Guan Eng, a closer examination of the facts surrounding the so-called corruption matter reveals that nothing more than a systematic vitriolic campaign launched by top Umno leaders to bring him down by hook or by crook.

So what are the terrible crimes of Lim Guan Eng?

First, he a bought a house in Pinhorn Street for RM 2.8 million, a price that was below the market value.

Second, the person or the landlady, one Miss Phang, sold the land below the value simply because she had stake in a company that bought the 1.1 acre land in Taman Manggis for putting up a dental centre and a hotel.

Third, the Taman Manggis land was originally earmarked for low-cost housing during the BN days, but Guan Eng did not adhere to this objective.

Fourth, the landlady has been accused of coming out with false statutory declaration saying that she did not have any interests whatsoever in the Taman Manggis land and neither had she anything to do with the proposed dental and hotel complex.

Fifth, the latest allegation, the present owner, Kuala Lumpur International Dental Centre (KLIDC) is about to sell the land to the highest bidder.

Facts countering allegations

What are the facts surrounding the above allegations?

First, the discount that Guan Eng obtained for the purchase of the house was something that was agreed upon by the landlady and him. The price was agreed earlier but only enforced later in 2015. Is there anything wrong for a purchase to be formalised between a willing seller and willing buyer?

Second, the landlady who sold the bungalow had no stake in the company which bought the Taman Manggis land.

Third, the Taman Manggis land was rejected for low-cost housing in 2007 by the former BN government in Penang simply because the land with the size of 1.1 acre was considered too small.

Fourth, the landlady has denied her involvement with the company that bought the Taman Manggis land in her recent statutory declaration.

Fifth, there is no evidence to indicate the present owner of the Taman Manggis land wants to sell the property to the highest bigger. The land title indicates it is still registered to KLIDC; I saw the land title yesterday.

Moreover, if this were to be sold, the owner must obtain the permission of the Penang state government. To date, no permission has been sought.

It is really mindboggling to imagine the extent to which certain Umno leaders would go to discredit and to bring down the popularly elected government of Pakatan Harapan.

The facts presented above clearly and unequivocally illustrates that the so-called allegations against Guan Eng are nothing but false and fictitious attempts to discredit a leader who has brought a good and clean image to Penang.

Waiting for Penang to revert to BN

Perhaps, there is the thinking that once Guan Eng is discredited beyond recovery, it is only a matter of time before Penang would once again revert to BN.

Such a myopic thinking fails to capture the nature of politics in Penang and why BN's dirty politics will only further ensure that Penangites will never want to go back to the dark days of the BN administration.

At a broader level, it is must be understood that these dirty machinations against the Penang state government and the Chief Minister are not mere accidents. They are carefully and systematically manipulated and presented to the public to inflict the maximum damage on DAP.

With colossal scandals and corruption surrounding the regime of Najib, Umno seems extremely desperate. The party might have come to accept its days in Malaysian politics are numbered and it must do whatever possible to arrest its imminent decline.

A horrible siege mentality has come to occupy the minds of Umno leaders. Such a mentality is probably dictating what needs to be done and how the party can remain regnant for years to come.

Allegations of corruption against Najib Abdul Razak, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, and the 1MDB state funds scandal and the need to prepare not only for Sarawak state elections but also for the next general elections, have influenced Umno leaders to adopt the maxim that the best form of defense is "offence".

It is this "offence" that has predisposed Umno to engage in the most nefarious and diabolic campaign to oust Guan Eng as the chief minister of Penang.

Can Umno realise its objective?

Are Malaysians willing to swallow the garbage that has been churned out daily in the BN-controlled media?

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P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the DAP state assemblyperson for Perai. -Mkini