IF Penang folk want checks and balances, they must vote for Pakatan Harapan and ensure the caretaker state government retains its 30 state seats, said Lim Guan Eng.

The caretaker chief minister said Barisan Nasional will not be able to provide a system of checks and balances, and drew attention to the state PH manifesto, which pledges to limit the chief minister’s term to just two and to appoint the opposition leader as state Public Accounts Committee chairman.

“What system of checks and balances is BN talking about when their manifesto does not offer such pledges? Why didn’t they propose them? Our manifesto is superior,” he told a press conference at the Penang DAP headquarters this evening.

The state BN, led by Teng Chang Yeow, has urged residents to support the coalition and vote into the state legislative assembly more BN reps, especially those from Gerakan and MCA, which had been wiped out in the last two general elections.

BN holds 10 state seats in Penang, all won by lynchpin party Umno. The 30 seats won by the then Pakatan Rakyat coalition in the 2013 polls include PAS’ sole seat, Permatang Pasir, which is now being contested by PH component Amanah.

Lim, who is defending his Air Putih state seat, said PH hopes to win BN seats, too, but first, the pact must win in the said 30 constituencies.

He added that he has never said there should be no opposition members in the state assembly.

“I am saying, let’s not lose the seats we have. We are confident about keeping Penang, if we can retain the seats we have.

“If we lose even one of our 30 seats, it will affect the plans and projects we want to implement. We can only proceed if we can defend our seats,” he said, referring to BN’s pledge to cancel major infrastructure projects that have been proposed and planned by the caretaker administration.

“Otherwise, it will prove to BN that their way of bullying us works. Remember how (caretaker prime minister) Najib Razak came and said, ‘BN or nothing’? We have to show them that their bullying tactics will not work.”

Lim, who is also PH deputy president, told the people not to waste their votes on PAS, as advised by PH chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He said PAS is no kingmaker in the 14th general election, and faces trouble defending its traditional stronghold, Kelantan.

“Voting for PAS will not determine who takes the federal government. The choice is between PH and BN, and only PH can replace BN.

“It is still a one-on-one fight,” said the DAP secretary-general. – May 7, 2018.