Talk of a snap election in Penang has become the latest knot in the increasingly complex web that makes up the corruption case brought against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Accused of purchasing a bungalow below market price in exchange for help with a development project, Lim has been charged with graft, prompting a flood of public donations into the DAP coffers to meet the RM1 million bail set by the judge. The case has also caused arguments amongst opposition supporters and civil society activists over whether or not Lim should step down, at least temporarily.
Of course, the initial call for Lim to relinquish his Chief Minister’s post originated from BN in a sort of revenge attack, given the many times DAP has called for BN leaders to vacate their posts at the first hint of corruption.
Youth activist Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman is right in saying that Lim is morally bound to give up his post, for he must show that he would not sacrifice principle for political expediency.
Unfortunately, none of our politicians are too keen on being held to their words; so we’ll dispense with this issue for now and look at the question of DAP’s proposal to dissolve the Penang State Assembly.
As a report in Bloomberg puts it, the proposed snap election is designed to shore up public support for Lim, who has faced challenges from within his own party. There is an anti-Guan Eng force in DAP’s Penang chapter. It has been clear over the course of the past eight years that not everyone is enamoured of the Chief Minister. The decision to postpone the party elections until after GE14 may be connected to this.
The snap election, if called, intends to play upon public sympathy for Lim, the kind of sympathy that resulted in the collection of the bail money in less than 24 hours. The logic goes that the people of Penang are angry over the arrest of their Chief Minister, who is beloved and will return a strong mandate to him.
The purpose of the snap polls is two-fold – to convince BN that the public will not take Lim’s incarceration favourably, and to silence the DAP faction that is against him. With a strong mandate, Lim could fend off challengers by pointing to public support for his leadership.
However, one must question whether it’s wise for DAP to be so stubborn in helping one man sustain his ego. Two other leaders recently let their hubris lead them to the voting public with results that now appear disastrous. David Cameron of Britain has succeeded in plunging his country into an era of economic uncertainty and Australia’s Malcolm Turnbull’s grip on power has become tenous now that extremists from both the right and the left have found their way into the country’s parliament.
The will of the public is a fickle thing, and until there is no other choice, it is not safe for Penang DAP to call for a snap election.