DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has reiterated his challenge to Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to hold a snap general election following the court filings by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) last week.

Lim claimed Malaysians would be punished twice if the US government recovers the assets and returns it to the very same government that had set up 1MDB.

This would allow the scandal to fester, unless there is a change of federal government through an election, he said.

“If they return the money, they cannot be giving money to every Malaysian.

“How are they going to return the money? They would have to return it to the Malaysian government – the same government that set up 1MDB; the same government that allowed our money to be robbed from us. Can or not?

“That’s why we need a fresh national election, to let people decide whether they want a corrupt BN government, or a real, clean, with hope for Malaysia – a Pakatan government,” Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, told supporters last night.

He was addressing some 700 people who turned up at the Support, Sympathy and Solidarity with Lim Guan Eng 2.0 campaign dinner function in Shah Alam.

Although the function was meant to rally support for Lim, who faces two corruption charges, the speakers' attention turned to the US$1 billion civil forfeiture suit in the US.

The lawsuit seeks to seize assets allegedly bought with money misappropriated from 1MDB, which was subsequently laundered through the US financial system.

However, Malaysian attorney-general Mohd Apandi Ali had said there is no evidence of misappropriation from 1MDB from any investigation, but a police investigation is still ongoing.

In the past, the US had used various methods to repatriate the funds recovered under the country’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.

In some cases, like those involving South Korea and Taiwan, the money was simply handed over to the respective governments.

In others, such as with Kazakhstan and Equatorial Guinea, the money was handed to charities in those countries on various conditions, including that the charity is independent of the government.

Speaking to reporters later, Lim was asked about the proposed Penang state election, and whether the opposition should focus its resources on backing the mooted Bersih 5 rally instead.

DAP proposed the Penang state election as a response to the corruption charges against Lim on June 30, which the party claims to be political persecution.

Meanwhile, Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah had said that a fifth Bersih rally is on the cards following the revelations by the DOJ, but added that the matter needed to be discussed further before a decision is made.

Responding to the question, Lim pointed out that the government had not only ignored the past four Bersih rallies, but played the race card against the gatherings.

“(Although Bersih must be supported), why don’t we use an additional tool, (which is) going through the general election, where I think the ballot box will determine the decision of the people and the fate of the government.

“They cannot say that, ‘It is not representative. You have 500,000 people, so what? We have got 30 million people.’ (If) we do it through the ballot box, they cannot question that. That will be the verdict of the people.

“That is the democratic process. Return the mandate to the people and let the people decide,” Lim added.

The event last night raised RM15,955 in donations, according to an announcement by the event’s emcee.