DAP assemblyperson (Tanjung Bungah) Teh Yee Cheu kept up his campaign to impose a term limit on the chief minister's post, saying that 23 Penang DAP candidates before the 2008 national polls had agreed to abide by the election pledges which include introducing such a term limit.

The pledges were supposed to be fulfilled when the DAP captures the state government in 2008.

Teh showed reporters the pledges written in the Chinese language, which, among others, proposed a three-term limit for the chief minister’s post.

He said the pledge was made to ensure good and progressive leaders

According to Teh, DAP has fulfilled many of its pledges including asset declaration, implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, and local government elections.

“So I am just reminding them of those (pledges) they have yet to fulfil, and one of them is the term limit for the chief minister's post,” he told reporters at the state legislative assembly building in George Town today.

Teh said the pledges were read out at the Esplanade on March 6, 2008, two days before the March 8 polls.

However, the public pledge did not mention the term limit for the CM’s post.

“I did not attend the event at the Esplanade, but I was given a copy of the pledges in Chinese; this is the only version I have,” he said.

Teh has been strongly criticised by his party comrades for raising this issue consistently inside and outside the state assembly.

Yesterday, his party comrade – RSN Rayer (DAP-Seri Delima) – chastised him for joining a roundtable meeting to discuss the issue organised by Gerakan last Saturday.

Teh had submitted a motion to discuss the matter at the current sitting of the state assembly but was rejected by speaker Law Choo Kiang for technical reasons.

In response to Teh, Penang DAP organising secretary Wong Hon Wai denied that DAP candidates took the pledge before the 2008 national polls.

Wong said Teh was not present at the Esplanade when the pledge was read out on May 6.

“The pledge that was shown by Teh is only in the Chinese language; it was most probably a draft, not the final version,” Wong told reporters at the state assembly today.

“It is impossible that non-Chinese candidates at the time – the late Karpal Singh and Rayer – could have read the pledge,” said Wong, the political secretary to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“The final version did not include the clause on term limit for the CM’s post,” said the Air Itam assemblyperson.

“Teh probably just wanted cheap publicity by bringing up this issue,” he said.