Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was slow to judge his staunch ally, Parti Amanah Negara president Mohamed Sabu, who recently said that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has remained in power as “Malaysians are cowards”.

Mohamed, popularly known as Mat Sabu, said this on Tuesday night in front of the Sungai Buloh Prison, during a gathering to mark the first anniversary of former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's jailing for a sodomy conviction.

Lim said he needs to check with Mat Sabu on the background and context in which the remarks were made.