'Tough, but not impossible for BN to recapture Penang'

It will be tough for the Barisan Nasional (BN) to wrest Penang from the opposition, but not impossible, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said his confidence was derived from the change in voters' attitude towards the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's stance over a number of issues that he had raised.

"It is not impossible, but it is not easy for us to accept the fact that we have to work hard, but the opposition has done all sorts of things to their own detriments," he told reporters after meeting the Penang BN machinery, here today.

Muhyiddin said the people of Penang were no longer in favour of Guan Eng's leadership for he seemed to have monopolised all matters to the extent that the people passed remarks that even to use the state's name, one had to consult him.

He said on the other hand, the BN placed importance on the welfare of the people to ensure that government assistance and transformation programmes reached the target groups, and this was feared by the opposition.

He said the change in the people's attitude in Penang was visible for several groups in the community were unhappy with what was happening in the state and this would have an impact in terms of support to the BN.

"But we need to make clarifications and disseminate information on issues raised so that no parties can manipulate and mislead the people's mindset.

"Our defeat before is not because the opposition was strong, but due to internal issues that had since been resolved. The growing support and the tendency to come back to the BN is visible now," he said.