Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng blasted Malay daily Berita Harian today on a report published yesterday, which claimed he "warned" Amanah not to talk about seat allocations in Pakatan Harapan.

Lim denied ever admonishing DAP's ally in Harapan during a press conference held in Komtar yesterday, where he was asked to comment on the issue.

He castigated the reporter, saying he was a "coward and a liar" for not attending today's press conference.

"I dare him to sue me. I never issued a warning to Amanah, these are all lies," Lim said, adding that the reporter was unprofessional in carrying out his duties.

"This is not the first time where fake and baseless reports are published about us. Now you understand why I do not want to reply to questions asked by the BN media.

"You must also understand why I take legal action against the media when they report fake news," he stressed.

Saying he does not want to jump the gun in taking legal action against the newspaper or its reporter, Lim expressed hope that the report would be retracted or corrected.

The short report, published on the BH online portal at 3.35pm yesterday, has since become inaccessible.

Lim insisted that he had never issued any warning to any component party in Harapan, let alone to members of his own party.

"We are a democratic party, where everyone is allowed their views, and there are some Harapan component parties which had views that differed from one another about the seat distribution.

"I merely said we will continue to listen to them and continue to explain to them what we need to do to win the coming 14th general election," he added.