GEORGE TOWN, Nov 26 – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng hold a press conference at his Komtar office here on Wednesday said that Penang executive council has ‘lost the confidence’ in the five PKR assemblyman who abstained from voting on a controversial land reclamation motion tabled by Umno on November 20.
“I am happy that Datuk Rashid had issued a statement on Nov 24 that the Penang Keadilan (PKR) issues can be solved with the good leadership in Pakatan Harapan coalition based on the Pakatan Harapan’s joint policies. This affirms that we only recognise Datuk Rashid as the leader,” Lim said.
In the meantime, Lim also would like to urged Bukit Tengah assemblymember Ong Chin Wen to make an open statement that he supports and concedes to Penang Deputy Chief Minister I, Datuk Mohd. Rashid Hasnon. Lim was referring to the recent motion by UMNO which Ong and four other assemblyman had abstained from voting.
On Friday, a motion for all reclamation projects was tabled by Muhamad Farid Saad (BN-Pulau Betong) drew attention when Teh voted for it together with all the nine Barisan assemblymen present in the House while five PKR assemblymen abstained. Teh had initially voted to support the BN motion but then quickly admitted his mistake and apologised. He also declared that he was willing to face punishment from the party.
While other five PKR assemblymen who abstained were Ong Chin Wen (Bukit Tengah); Dr Norlela Ariffin (Penanti); Lee Khai Loon (Machang Bubuk); Cheah Kah Peng (Kebun Bunga) and Dr T.Jayabalan (Batu Uban) have still not yet been able to explain themselves why they have chosen to abandon the Penang State Government.
“In the meantime, the exco meeting on Wednesday has also decided that though they are still. They will continue to operate as normal. But we have lost confidence towards the five as their actions can be seen as a stab in the back, they must rebuild it with the state government,” Lim said in a press conference at Komtar here on Wednesday.
