If there was only one word to describe Malaysian politics post-Pakatan Rakyat, which died on June 16 last year, it would be “sacrifice”, said Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Lim said there is a need to sacrifice for one’s principles and ideals, and a willingness in all to forgo positions for the sake of putting the people and federal constitution first.

“BN does not sacrifice, they only exploit,” Lim said when asked to describe the current political scenario in one word.

Referring to Penang as an example, Lim said there is a stark contrast between BN and Pakatan’s style of governance.

“We can build a bridge without tolls but BN always needed to impose tolls,” said Lim.

He was referring to the Penang administration’s proposal to build the third bridge to replace the undersea tunnel linking Gurney Drive to Bagan Ajam on the mainland.

“We practise an open tender system while they don’t, but we get investigated instead. This is where black becomes white and white becomes black,” he told Malaysiakini.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had investigated Lim for allegedly purchasing a bungalow unit below market value.

Lim has denied any wrongdoing, saying the house on Jalan Pinhorn, Penang, was purchased via a “willing seller-willing buyer” basis.

“In the international order, when you don’t carry out an open tender, there is corruption, but here we do it (open tender), but are investigated as if we did something wrong,” Lim added.

Despite the challenges ahead, the DAP secretary-general said he was willing to sacrifice and pay the price for his struggles as “we have no choice”.

‘DAP willing to stand up for what is right’

He added that the DAP was willing to stand up for what is right despite facing “public vilification and victimisation”.

DAP has often been labelled anti-Islam for opposing hudud, despite denying that it was against Islam.

The party has strongly rejected PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s Private Member’s Bill to amend the Syariah Courts (Criminal Juridiction) Act 1965, which eventually led to the breakup of Pakatan Rakyat.

Following PAS’ exit from the opposition coalition, 10 of its progressive leaders were purged from the party’s central committee. They left to form Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah).

On Sept 23 last year, DAP, PKR and Amanah declared Penang to be a Pakatan Harapan state government.

Meanwhile, Lim cited the case of the recent kidnapping in Sabah, where four victims were released after their families raised RM12 million to pay their ransom.

However, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the money did not go to the kidnappers but were channelled to an Islamic body in the Philippines.

“We have to sacrifice so much to know the truth; for example, in this case, we do not really know what happened to the money; it is outrageous and unacceptable,” Lim said.

“That’s why we must continue to sacrifice for the people, that is the only way we can move forward.

“This is especially so after BN had subverted Pakatan through money politics and politics of hate and lies."

Leaders from both sides of the political divide were asked the same question put to Lim, and their replies ranged from the words “misnomer to messy, marriage of convenience, crazy, forward, reformation, reset and BN unchallenged” to describe Pakatan Rakyat’s death.