If Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng is afraid of facing MCA deputy president Wee Ka Siong in his home turf, then his father Lim Kit Siang should attend the planned forum, BN strategic communications director Abdul Rahman Dahlan said.

“Kit Siang should attend and help his son answer the serious allegations against him and the DAP Penang government he leads.

“Kit Siang should not abuse democracy and the people's support. Instead, Kit Siang should practise what he preaches,” Rahman added in a media statement this morning.

Wee is scheduled to hold a forum on the undersea tunnel in Lim's parliamentary seat of Bagan in Penang on Friday evening.

Guan Eng dismissed Wee's repeated challenge to debate on the grounds that the latter was not of equal rank with him.

He then issued a counter dare to MCA president Liow Tiong Lai to lock horns on the tunnel as well as on 1MDB.

Kit Siang, on the other hand, has launched a tirade against Wee for attempting to malign the chief minister and his administration's reputation.

'Disappointing responses from respected elder politician'

Commenting on this, Rahman said he is disappointed with Kit Siang's responses, given that the latter is a respected elder politician.

He said Wee had explained his allegations with regard to the Penang undersea tunnel with great care and detail.

Rahman, who is also a minister in the Prime Minister's Department, added that the MCA leader's calculation of the RM20.5 billion loss to the tunnel project was not without basis.

“Malaysians are still shocked with the recent admission that RM22 million had been paid to two individuals in a failed attempt to stop corruption investigations on the project.

“This begs the question that if RM22 million is paid to cover corruption, then what is the actual scale of the corruption involved that needs covering up?” he asked.

Rahman pointed out that the tunnel scandal is not a trivial matter as billions of ringgit in Penang people's money and assets are involved, while six persons have been arrested by the MACC.

“As a politician who has modelled himself as anti-corruption and pro-transparency, the replies from Kit Siang to Wee have been most disappointing.

“In at least six statements within a matter of weeks, Kit Siang derided Wee over his accusations and called him silly names such as 'catspaw' and 'ninja assassin'.

“Instead of encouraging his son to defend himself against Wee's findings, Kit Siang has merely dismissed the RM20.5 billion figure out of hand without any explanation or basis at all,” Rahman said.

He went on to accuse Kit Siang of plunging to even lower depths yesterday by challenging Wee to contest in Penang and “arrogantly” stating that the MCA leader would lose his deposit.

“While I understand that there is a need to defend your son in this scandal, Kit Siang should not encourage DAP politicians to abuse the people's support for DAP to hide their wrongdoings,” he added.