Pakatan Harapan leaders' discussions on a snap election in Penang were leaked to BN-controlled media to show DAP in a bad light, said Lim Guan Eng.

The Penang chief minister said a Harapan leader had leaked the information to sabotage the discussions, which were private and confidential.

“I have conveyed to the three PKR top leaders present yesterday, the party’s disgust at the leaks by this internal source, intended by this Pakatan leader to put DAP in bad light,” the DAP secretary-general said in a statement today.

Lim said discussions based on the Harapan consultative spirit will continue despite the “attempted sabotage” from within the coalition.

“We hope that this explanation will stop the media frenzy and prove that DAP and Pakatan Harapan is not afraid to risk our government posts, by returning the mandate to the people to make the final choice, in accordance with healthy democratic practices,” Lim said.

Yesterday, Lim and state DAP chief Chow Kon Yeow met with PKR deputy president-cum-Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali, vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and the party’s national elections director Saifuddin Nasution.

They had decided to spend more time discussing the possibility of snap polls in Penang, while Lim confirmed he did not seek audience with the governor to obtain his consent for the matter.

Although DAP's central executive committee unanimously agreed to have the polls, PKR and Parti Amanah Negara were not keen.

“Why is it not wrong for BN refusing to face the voters for a new mandate when the whole world is investigating and taking action against you for corruption on a global scale?” Lim asked.

“We are not afraid to allow the people to decide on the authority, credibility and legitimacy of a Pakatan Harapan Penang government led by me,” he added.

DAP floated the idea of snap polls to gauge the people’s support for the party and Lim after he was slapped with two corruption charges related to the purchase of his RM2.8 million bungalow on Jalan Pinhorn.

Lim has claimed trial to both charges and cried “political persecution”, saying his opponents were out to end his political career.