“This is news to me. I have yet to read it,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.

“I will (issue) a response when the time comes.”

Chow was asked to comment on a Malaysiakini report in which three DAP assemblymen claimed there is an internal push to deny him a second term as the chief minister.

The report also said the assemblymen were unhappy with his performance and were pushing for Lim to return.

Pressed further, Chow said he is unaware if party colleagues are unhappy with his performance.

“They have never expressed their unhappiness with me,” he said.

The three assemblymen, who asked not to be named, said Chow has been ineffective as a chief minister and is “soft and sluggish” in making decisions for the state.

They said Lim, on the other hand, is a “stern, strong and a straightforward leader”, despite gaining a reputation for being arrogant.

They also said Chow has done “nothing” in his current tenure and that the mega projects proposed in the state – the Penang South Islands, Penang Transport Master Plan and the undersea tunnel project – were Lim’s brainchild.

Meanwhile, Chow said the amendment to the state constitution, passed in 2018, states that the governor cannot appoint any assemblyman who has served as chief minister for two terms, as chief minister again.

“That amendment was passed by all the Pakatan Harapan assemblymen in the state assembly. That is all that I can say since it is already public knowledge,” he said.

However, he did not say if the law can be applied retrospectively, which would potentially prevent Lim from a third term as chief minister.

Separately, Malay Mail Online quoted DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook as saying the report on the purported move to oust Chow was merely hearsay.

“It was reported that three Penang assemblymen are behind this move, but I have not received any memorandum letters so far. So, they are only rumours,” he was quoted as saying.

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