Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has lashed out at the new home minister for going overboard by asking those who are not happy with the general election result to migrate to another country.

NONE "If this is the standard used by Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, should we also ask Penang BN supporters to leave the state?" Lim ( right ) asked during his speech at a public forum in Komtar last night.

"His statement does not make sense at all.”

In the May 5 general election, the coalition in Penang, lead by the the DAP secretary-general, swept to power, wining 30 out of 40 seats in the state with impressive majorities.

According to Lim, Pakatan also secured 66 percent of the popular vote in Penang, a three percent increase from 2008.

However, he said his administration was different from the BN, which is "envious and revengeful" of those who support Pakatan Rakyat.

Lim cited the example of Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said, who purportedly withdrew facilities earlier provided to four parliamentary constituencies won by Pakatan in GE13.

"The Pakatan government in Penang will treat everybody fairly. We will take care of all, regardless of race, religion and political affiliation, including those who support BN.

"This is democracy. We respect your choice and (will) not treat you cruelly by taking revenge against you (for not supporting us)," he added.

NONE Zahid, in his maiden comment as home minister, said in an editorial piece in Utusan Malaysia yesterday that the opposition can "migrate elsewhere" if it is not satisfied with the country's electoral system.

This system saw BN winning 133 parliamentary seats on May 5, and forming the government with a simple majority, despite Pakatan bagging 51.78 percent of the popular vote and getting 89 seats.

Zahid, who replaced Hishamuddin Hussein in Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's new cabinet line-up, also condemned the Pakatan-organised ‘Black 505' rallies, which he described as illegal.

The nationwide rallies, which continue to attract mammoth crowds, were held in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Perak, Johor and Pahang following Pakatan's loss in 13th general election.

According to Zahid further, these “illegal gatherings” were held to hide Pakatan's failure to win over Putrajaya, although the coalition did not dispute the results in Penang, Selangor and Kelantan, where it won.

But Lim said the unfairness of the Malaysian election system which benefitted BN - via fraud and gerrymandering - could not be simply ignored.

NONE He said Pakatan would seek justice in the many cases of "fraud" that its team members have discovered.

"We will demand genuine reforms in the election system, including the redelineation process that the Election Commission (EC) says it will carry out this year," Lim said.

"Only with a clean electoral system can democracy be salvaged in Malaysia.

"Don't let the majority of Malaysian citizens be governed by a minority group because this will be a loss to those who actually won (in the polls)," he added.

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