Penang DAP to hold emergency meeting today

Penang DAP will be holding an emergency meeting today following the detention of party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) yesterday.

State DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow said the meeting will be held immediately after Lim, who will be appear in court Thursday, was granted bail by the court.

"The DAP state committee will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow to decide on how to handle the political crisis," he told reporters when met at the Penang MACC headquarters yesterday.

He said the meeting will only be held in the presence of Lim.

Chow, who is also State Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman, said DAP considers the charges against Lim to be politically motivated to kill his career.

"Lim's message to me was to reinforce the spirit of the party in the face of this political crisis and ensure that the party and the state government remain steadfast during this time," he said.

Meanwhile, Penang PKR chairman Datuk Mansor Othman said he hoped that the MACC investigations would be carried out transparently and without the influence of any political element.

The party will always support and stand firmly behind the chief minister, he said in a statement here, Wednesday.

Lim was earlier being investigated by MACC over the purchase of a bungalow in Jalan Pinhorn here at a price of RM2.8 million from Phang Li Koon and was said to be below market price.

Last May, Lim and his wife Betty Chew testified at the MACC office in relation to investigations into the purchase of a bungalow and sale of land in Taman Manggis, Jalan Zainal Abidin, here, to build affordable housing to a private company.