THE on-going court trial involving DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng since August 2020 can be a double-edged sword for DAP and the Pakatan Harapan-Barisan Nasional (PH-BN) alliance in the coming state elections.
The Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) charge sheet alleged that Lim had solicited a bribe of 10% of future profits for a contract to build an undersea tunnel worth RM6.3 bil during his tenure as a two-term Penang chief minister between March 11, 2008 and May 14, 2018.
Guan Eng was charged on August 7, 2020 when the country was under the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and during the tenure of the backdoor administration of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the country’s eighth prime minister (PM).
The former finance minister and current Bagan MP in mainland Penang, is unlikely to lose the state election if he were to contest again in his state constituency of Air Putih. He has been a three-term state assemblyman since 2008 after beating Gerakan’s Lye Siew Weng with a majority of 4,061 (2008), 7,744 (2013) and 7,958 (2018).
Despite his on-going court case, Lim won the Bagan parliamentary constituency in the 15th General Election (GE15) with a bigger majority of 49,648 compared to 43,902 (2018), 34,159 (2013) and 22,070 (2008).
Recently, after the Sessions Court ruled in the defence’s favour on April 5, the defence team has received from the prosecution a forensic report obtained from another court case where businessman G. Gnanaraja was charged in the Shah Alam Sessions Court in 2019 with cheating Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZCSB) director Datuk Zarul Ahmad Mohd Zulkifli of RM19 mil.
Lim’s lead counsel Gobind Singh Deo has since filed an application to adduce the report, saying that the contents were crucial to prove that the money was not meant for or paid to his client.
It is believed that the Whatsapp messages exchanged between the two key witnesses was over the RM2 mil payment, referred to as “chocolate”. The prosecutor had alleged that the “big boss” was Lim.
However, the Shah Alam court has heard that the ‘big boss’ referred to in the conversation was, in fact, disgraced former prime minister (PM) Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.
The most convincing evidence is in this piece of information: Najib live in Taman Duta, Kuala Lumpur and his birthday was on July 23 while, Lim’s birthday is on December 8.
@dap_tikthetok Latest developments in the Lim Guan Eng undersea tunnel case! #dapmalaysia #LimGuanEng ♬ original sound – dapmalaysia
When the trial resumes on July 18 – depending on when the state elections will be held – it is likely that the case will be used as a campaign agenda by both PN and the PH-BN alliance.
It was reported on Feb 15 that Gobind had submitted that there was seemingly an “abuse of power through suppression of evidence by the prosecution”, hence the need to obtain the notes of proceedings from the Shah Alam court as proof.
However, Guan Eng is expected to have an upper hand in the coming state elections despite the on-going trial.
This will also raise serious doubts why the prosecution had initially refused to provide the forensic report. It will also raise the question why Guan Eng instead of Najib appeared to have been framed with the charges during Muhyiddin’s term of office. – May 18, 2023
