Guan Eng to sue Melaka deputy speaker over FB post

(FMT) – Lim Guan Eng has issued a letter of demand to Melaka deputy speaker Ghazale Muhamad over a Facebook post in which the latter claimed that Lim had appointed a team of special officers upon becoming finance minister.

In the Aug 11 post, Ghazale alleged that Lim had appointed a team of 30 officers comprising Chinese youth aged 20 to 30 who were paid RM8,000 to RM15,000 a month.

He also claimed that the team was led by Lim’s political secretary at the time, Tony Pua.

“Its purpose was to expose cases involving Umno people, manage assets under the finance ministry and ‘help’ Lim Guan Eng prepare a budget report favouring his race,” he added.

Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong, who announced Lim’s move in a statement today, said Ghazale’s claim was “utterly false and slanderous”.

“It is nothing but a typical attempt to paint Lim Guan Eng and DAP as the villain,” he added.

He also noted a previous case in which Ghazale, the assemblyman for the state constituency of Rim, accused former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching of calling for the approval of citizenship for children from other countries to balance the number of Bumiputeras and non-Bumiputeras in the country.

Ghazale subsequently deleted the post and issued an apology to Teo.

Accusing Ghazale of peddling fake news, Khoo said such behaviour was unacceptable for the deputy speaker of a state assembly.

He also urged him to withdraw his statement and apologise to Lim.