GEORGE TOWN – DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng has denied speculations that his absence at the Pakatan Harapan (PH)-Barisan Nasional (BN) vote tallying centre at a hotel here yesterday has anything to do with Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.
Lim said he was absent because he needed to be at the Caring Society Complex vote tallying centre to wait for the results of the Penang election for the Air Putih seat which he had contested.
"Don’t speculate…I went to the vote counting centre, and I didn’t have time (to go to St Giles Wembley). I was travelling back and forth, and there were so many programmes,” he told the media after attending the Penang chief minister’s swearing-in ceremony at Seri Mutiara today.
Lim, who is also Bagan MP, managed to defend the Air Putih state seat, which he held since 2008, by a 7,923-vote majority after polling 8,996 votes.
His challenger from Perikatan Nasional Kong Cheng Ann received 1,073 votes while Parti Rakyat Malaysia candidate Teh Yee Cheu received 437 votes in a three-cornered fight.
Earlier, there were rumours of a sour relationship between Lim and Chow due to state election-related issues, including the selection of chief minister.
In the meantime, Lim said his father Tan Sri Lim Kit Siang was present at the PH-BN vote tallying centre to show his support for the candidates and the parties.
Earlier today, Chow, 65, who is also the Penang PH chairman, was sworn-in as Penang chief minister for the second term before governor Tun Ahmad Fuzi Abdul Razak at Seri Mutiara, here.
Chow, who is also Padang Kota assemblyman, will lead the Penang unity government after the PH-BN coalition bagged a total of 29 out of the 40 seats in the state polls yesterday. – Bernama, August 19, 2023
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