Opalyn Mok, The Malaysian Insider

Gerakan said today it stands by its accusations that the Penang chief minister is corrupt and that a tenancy agreement of his rented residence that was publicly revealed was doctored.

“We will not retract what we have said and we will not apologise,” said Penang Gerakan deputy chief H’ng Khoon Leng.

He said Gerakan has been raising the issue regarding the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s rented residence before the latter moved in.

“We have also raised so many other issues that Lim evades from answering or responding to our allegations over the years in countless press conferences,” he said.

He said if Lim could not come clear with all issues raised including his rented bungalow and the controversial sale of the Taman Manggis land, then it shows that he has something to hide.

“For the past three years, I have been saying that he (Lim) is corrupt but now when the elections is near, he suddenly wants to take action against me for saying this,” he said.

“In many press conferences, even on my Facebook profile, I have always said Lim is corrupt but it was ignored. Now, he suddenly wants to clear his name just because the general election is around the corner?” H’ng said.

He said Gerakan was not afraid of Lim or the Penang state government as the issues raised are a matter of public interest and should be revealed to the public.

“We based our allegations on facts and our own investigations. The issues we raised are not mere stories we made up out of nothing,” he said.

This morning Lim, through his political secretary Ng Wei Aik, had threatened to take action against H’ng, Gerakan Youth vice-chief Tan Kah Leong and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng for alleging the tenancy agreement was doctored.

Ng said Lim would also take action against H’ng for saying he (Lim) was corrupted if H’ng does not retract the statement within 24 hours.

Ng was responding to statements made by H’ng, Kah Leong and Tee Beng that the tenancy agreement for Lim’s rented residence was doctored as the landlord’s name was obscured and the stamp duty was not clear.

The tenancy agreement showed recently listed the rental of the house at RM5,000 a month. Lim is entitled to a RM4,000 a month housing allowance, and his office said the chief minister had been making up the balance of RM1,000 out of his own pocket.