PENANG Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is looking at the possibility of not being able to contest in the 14th general election, which is due to be called in the coming months.

The Penang High Court yesterday set the dates for his corruption trial between March and May.

Asked if his eligibility to contest in the polls would be affected, Lim said: “Perhaps.”

“I know I am targeted,” the DAP secretary-general and Pakatan Harapan deputy president told reporters at Komtar today.

He was charged in 2016 over the rezoning of two plots of agricultural land in Balik Pulau for residential use, which was said to benefit the plots’ owner, Magnificent Emblem, a company linked to his former landlady, Phang Li Koon.

In the charge recently amended by the prosecution, Lim, 57, is accused of seeking gratification for himself and his wife, Betty Chew, 53, as an officer of a public body.

He is accused of using his position as chairman of the state planning committee to approve the rezoning of the plots, at Komtar on July 18, 2014.

If convicted under Section 23 of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act, he faces 20 years’ jail, and a fine of not less than five times the amount of the gratification, or RM10,000, whichever is higher.

Lim also faces a second charge over his purchase of a bungalow in Jalan Pinhorn for RM2.8 million, alleged to be below the market price of RM4.27 million, on July 28, 2016, from Phang.

The offence, under Section 165 of the Penal Code, is punishable with a jail term of not less than two years, a fine, or both.

“I am surprised that the prosecution amended the charge. I thought that since they are charging a chief minister, they would do everything properly. Let the people see, lah,” he said of the minor amendments made to how the charges were worded.

He said he would have to attend trial on all the set dates – March 26 to 30; April 9 to 12 and 23 to 27; and, May 7 to 10 and 21 to 25.

Lim’s court attendance would affect his election campaign, especially if the dates coincide with GE14.

He has been Air Putih assemblyman and Bagan MP since 2008.

“We will deal with it when the time comes,” he said. – January 11, 2018.