Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng will take legal action against Utusan Malaysia for allegedly publishing a defamatory report against him on its front page today.

NONE In a statement today, his press secretary Cheong Yin Fan said the Malay-language daily ( left ) had not allowed Lim the opportunity to reply to the allegations. As such, it has left Lim no choice but to sue.

“ Utusan wrongfully claimed that the chief minister had not allow the Maulud procession (to mark Prophet Muhammad’s birthday), barred the Ramadan bazar which had in fact went ahead and had torn down Malay villages even though none of them were demolished,” Cheong said.

The law suit will be filed through the law firm Karpal Singh and co.

The front-page report, which spilled over to four more articles on Lim on page six, came after his scathing criticism of BN at the Pakatan Rakyat convention yesterday, accusing the ruling coalition of abusing race, religion and raja (royalty) or 3Rs.

NONE In the reports, Penang Umno chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (left) labelled Lim a “foreign political tool” while noting that former PKR members like Ezam Mohd Noor and Zahrain Mohamed Hashim had said that the chief minister is not qualified to talk about citizenship and nationality.

Umno supreme council members Mohd Puad Zarkashi, Zainal Abidin Osman and Ahmad Maslan said it was DAP who had in fact abused the 3Rs.

“Clearly Utusan and several BN leaders are using the 3Rs to lie to the rakyat by saying that DAP and the chief minister are anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-monarchy,” Cheong said.

“These groups have ill-intentions. They cannot furnish any proof of wrongdoing, but continue with their agenda of portraying DAP (in negative light).”

She added that the attacks in the Umno-owned broadsheet also prove that the Pakatan convention had struck a raw nerve.

Lim is also DAP secretary-general.

'Want moderation? Rein in Utusan'