SUNDAY-9TH MARCH 2008-LIM GUAN ENG -PENANG CHIEF MINISTER

Lim Guan Eng - Penang new Chief Minister

PENANG:
Opposition leader Lim Guan Eng who was jailed in 1999 for sedition has been nominated as the new Chief Minister of the industrial state of Penang after a stunning election win, a party official said on Sunday. The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), led by Lim, took control of Penang and added parliamentary seats across the country as the opposition handed the ruling coalition its biggest upset ever. “It is already understood that the Chief Minister will be Lim Guan Eng,” said the party official.The official said the DAP would form a coalition government in the state, a major hub for US technology firms, with de facto opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The 47-year-old Lim, an accountant by training, is the eldest son of veteran Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang. In 1999, Guan Eng was jailed for a year for sedition after be organised mass rallies calling for the resignation of then Malacca chief minister Tan Sri Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik. He was barred for standing for elected office for five years following the conviction. “This is the biggest defeat ever since our (party’s) founding 4O years ago,” Penang Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said. “I feel sad and surprised. I urge all BN members to stay calm and not to take any action that could jeopardise peace and security in the State.” The shock defeat in Penang stirred memories of the last time the ruling coalition failed to win a two-thirds majority, in 1969. — Reuter.