GEORGE TOWN: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had previously rejected Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu just to secure the Chinese votes in the 1986 General Election.
Former Penang chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said Kit Siang first came to Penang for his ‘Tanjung 1’ political campaign to unseat Chong Eu, who was the chief minister then.
He said at the time, Kit Siang, had in his campaign, incited the voters to reject Dr Mahathir and Chong Eu, which resulted in fractions among the Chinese.
“Kit Siang however failed to topple Barisan Nasional in 1986.
“He then launched the ‘Tanjung 2’ campaign, and had claimed that Chong Eu, who was 71, was too old and not capable of becoming the chief minister.
“But now, at 77, Kit Siang is supporting 92-year-old Dr Mahathir to be he prime minister,” he said in his speech at the 50th anniversary celebration of Gerakan here tonight.
Meanwhile, Koh said never was there a chief minister or state executive council members, during BN’s rule in Penang for nearly four decades, charged with graft practice or abuse of power.
“But in the past 10 years, all sorts of stories cropped up, so much so that there is a chief minister who was charged in court.
“It is very different from our administration in the past where our priority is the wellbeing of the people and the future of Penang.” he added.