‘Sue me’ call a ploy to escape debate, says Guan Eng

Federal Minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan attempting to bury Taman Manggis debate for good, claims Penang CM Lim.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng says federal minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan’s call to sue him was just a tactic to escape the controversial and now deferred Taman Manggis debate.

Lim said he had called Rahman’s bluff and the call to sue was a veiled attempt to ensure the debate was buried.

“Rahman is so desperate to chicken out of his own debate challenge that he is now issuing a new challenge to me to sue him for defamation.

“He knows if I sue him for defamation, then he can easily use the excuse of sub-judice as the reason for not debating me,” Lim said in a statement today.

Lim gave an example of the prime minister’s RM2.6 billion donation issue, which was made off-limits to be argued in Parliament due to sub-judice. This was following the Bar Council’s application for judicial review on the matter.

“Clearly, the same rules will apply and the whole drama and sandiwara (drama) will be replayed, with Rahman taking advice not to proceed with the debate as the matter is now in court and will only debate me after the defamation suit is dealt with.

“I will not fall into the same trap. Let us debate first to clarify the truth and prove who is lying before talking about defamation suits in court.

“We have more than sufficient time to decide whether to sue after the open public debate that Rahman is so desperate to chicken out from,” Lim said.

The tweet-sparing between Lim and Rahman escalated yesterday, with both sides bickering about the failure of a planned debate.

Lim, over Twitter, accused Rahman of “chickening out” from the contentious Taman Manggis land sale debate, with the latter daring him to sue for defamation.

Rahman added Lim’s use of the word “chickening out” was unbecoming as a chief executive of the state and was like an “uncivilised street hustler”.

The Lim-Rahman spat began after the latter called for a debate on Taman Manggis, with several TV broadcasters eager to air them live.

However, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar threw a wet blanket over the debate, saying it would interfere with the ongoing investigation into the government land sale.

Anti-graft authorities, too, concurred with Khalid, demanding the duo forget about the debate until the case is settled.

Lim then hit back at Khalid, asking the top cop why the same gag order was not given to primetime news outlets such as TV3’s Buletin Utama discussing the same issue.