Kit Siang: Is Lau PN's Penang CM candidate, will he stand up to Hadi?

Perikatan Nasional's posturing that it can capture Penang in the upcoming state polls, has raised some questions from DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

Particularly, Lim wanted to know if Gerakan president Dominic Lau - who will be contesting for a seat - will play a big role in PN's Penang campaign, and whether he can stand up against PAS’ rhetoric.

Gerakan president Dominic Lau

On Saturday, PN claimed it was confident of winning at least 20 seats in Penang, just one seat short of forming the state government.

In a statement today, Lim questioned whether Lau will be PN's "chief minister" designate for Penang, and whether he had reached an agreement with state Gerakan chief Oh Tong Keong for the deal.

He also questioned if Gerakan will be allocated the most seats to contest in the state by PN, or whether it would be at the "beck-and-call" of PAS and Bersatu.

Penang Gerakan chief Oh Tong Keong

Gerakan had helmed the Penang state government from 1969 until it was ousted in 2008.

The party is now a third component in PN, but is often viewed by political observers as a token partner, which did not benefit from the "green wave" of support for the coalition during the 15th general election.

Meanwhile, Lim also questioned whether Lau can stand up to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang.

"Does he want the people of Penang to choose whether to be ‘pig herders’ or ‘cow herders’, and whether Lau is prepared to openly tell Hadi why he is wrong?

"Can PN and Gerakan answer these questions? I don’t think so," he said.

This was in reference to Hadi's remarks in 2020, when he said that Malays should opt for and support Muslim leadership.

“If we are patient with each other (Muslims), even if (the leadership) is cruel, we can be ‘cow herders’ at least, but under other people’s rule, we will become ‘pig herders’," he was reported as saying. - Mkini