Economic issues which have severely affected the livelihood of the locals in Penang over the past two decades have taken centre stage in the opposition’s campaign.

Be it DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is spearheading the party’s election machinery in Penang or PKR de facto l eader Anwar Ibrahim or the candidates themselves - they are all harping on the failure of the Barisan Nasional state government in addressing and redressing the sliding economy.

It's common knowledge to most Penangites that the state had fallen behind many others in terms of industrial growth, the state's top two revenue earner.

In 1990, when the chief minister was Dr Lim Chong Eu, Penang was in pole position. Now it lags behind Selangor, Johor, Sarawak, Malacca, Perak and Kedah.

"Penang was once the leading state in Malaysia in the economic front, brain power and highly skilled workers.

lim guan eng pc on seat talks 190607 talk "It was once a centre for democracy and progressive change. Now, it is behind almost every other state," the DAP secretary-general who is contesting the Bagan federal and Air Putih state seats told crowds attending the DAP ceramah.

According to the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the average annual growth rate in Penang was merely six percent between 2001 and 2004 behind Selangor and Johor, which meant that the average monthly income of RM3, 531 in Penang ranked third in the country.

‘Vote for change’

Lim said Koh's Gerakan-led state government would have to take the brunt for not being able to address this problem.

He said it was not accidental that Penang's depleting economic situation coincided with the three devastating electoral defeats suffered by the opposition, especially DAP, in the past three general elections.

Since winning 14 state and six parliamentary seats in 1990, DAP hit rock bottom in 1995, 1999 and 2004 general elections.

It won only three parliament seats and one state seat in 1995 and 1999, and four federal seats and one state seat in 2004.

Lim called on Penang voters to vote for a change to deny the two-third majority enjoyed by the BN government in both state and federal levels.

koh tsu khoon penang Under Koh, he said Penang had gone backwards due to the lack of a strong political leadership and had to compete with rapidly growing domestic rivals.

"Due to the absence of a strong opposition representation in both the national parliament and state legislatures, we did not have a constructive and powerful check and balance in our political system.

"Therefore, the voters in Penang have the responsibility to bounce back to lead other Malaysians for a change," he told a cheering crowd during a ceramah at the party state headquarters in Georgetown.

Koh had relinquished his chief ministership and Tanjung Bungah state seat in Penang island to contest the Batu Kawan federal seat on the mainland in order to move up to federal politics.

He faces DAP international bureau secretary Prof P Ramasamy in a straight fight.

‘Koh fled the island’

Meanwhile, Anwar has also blamed the state’s declining economic performance on the Gerakan state government’s shortcomings.

judiciary forum lingam tape 171107 anwar "The government should have undertaken pro-active steps to transform the state economic fundamentals from a manpower-based industry to a capital and technology-intensive economy," he said at ceramah in the state.

He then singled out Koh for not taking the initiative to transform the state’s low-end technology and manufacturing industries.

"Although Koh was my friend, I have to be open about it. His government had failed miserably to transform the state economy and inspire the people," he said

"The state government’s lethargy has caused a massive brain-drain of highly skilled and professionally-trained industrial workers to other parts in the country as well as foreign lands.

'This is the reason why Koh has fled the island to contest on the mainland because he was afraid the voters on the island would punish him for his many failures," he added.