In a tit-for-tat, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang has accused MCA Number 2 Liow Tiong Lai of attempting to court former MCA president Ling Liong Sik’s supporters.

This was after Liow defended Ling’s acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on charges of cheating in the Port Klang Free Trade Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“Either the MCA deputy president Liow does not understand simple English or he is just being deliberately obtuse because he has a political axe to grind.

“What is this political axe for Liow to ‘grind’? What else but competing with MCA president Chua Soi Lek for Ling’s MCA delegates vote-bank in the upcoming MCA party elections in December... rather than striving for a new political culture of public integrity with zero tolerance for corruption,” he said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Liow had accused Lim of misleading the public after Lim said the acquittal sent a signal that ministers now enjoy immunity and impunity for dereliction of duties.

Ling, who was then transport minister, was charged with misleading the cabinet after he failed to disclose a 7.5 percent per annum interest on the purchase price of land meant for the PKFZ project.

However, Liow had asserted that Ling should not be held responsible for the mistake of the ministry's officers.

Describing this as “ministerial irresponsibility”, Lim queried whether this meant that Liow would want ministry officers to be prosecuted instead.

“Or will Liow claim that the PKFZ scandal falls into the unique Malaysian category of ‘heinous crime without criminals’ in Malaysia and need not be pursued any further to ascertain who were the persons or persons responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal?” he said.