Guan Eng faces opposition and dissatisfaction within DAP and its ally PKR

KUALA LUMPUR - Factionalism has reared its head in PKR and its leaders must deal with it before its DAP ally is forced to deal with their associates in Penang, state Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng cautioned today.

Lim said he found it “disturbing” when Penang PKR whip Ong Chin Wen and four other party backbenchers had not only abstained from voting on land reclamation in the state legislative assembly last week, but admitted they had informed an unnamed national party leader of their intention to do so instead of state leaders.

“This is a clear sign of dissatisfaction by the PKR 5 or even a mutiny against the 4 PKR ADUNs holding government posts,” he said in a statement.

“If true, this shows that there is a party within a party in PKR, one comprising of those holding government posts and the other comprising backbenchers which appeared to be backed by national PKR leaders,” he added.

Lim, who is also DAP secretary-general, said there was now doubt if the state government could depend on the PKR backbenchers with the five willing to cast aside their party’s political partnership.

But he said his administration would give time for PKR to resolve the internal conflict first.

“The Penang state government does not intend to meddle into the internal party problems of a party ally and will give PKR time to resolve them before the state government decides how to deal with their preference to trust Umno more than their own state government,” he said.

The controversy arose last Friday when Umno representative for Pulau Betong Muhamad Farid Saad filed a motion opposing the state’s land reclamation projects and received the support of DAP’s Tanjung Bunga assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu, while five from PKR withheld their vote on the grounds of the “current political situation”.

Teh has since apologised for not toeing his party’s line and Lim said he will be disciplined according to DAP rules.