Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan today expressed relief over the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) arrest of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

“Clearly, DAP’s slogan of being the most clean political party in Malaysia does not hold water, post Lim’s arrest by MACC today.

“Transparency and accountability must be practiced, not preached,” he said in a statement.

Abdul Rahman had before this challenged Lim to a debate on the purchase of the Jalan Pinhorn bungalow, but the debate was scrapped so as to not jeopardise ongoing investigations.

He said he raised the matter last March because he believed there was wrongdoing in the transaction and “the people of Penang deserve nothing but the truth”.

“It is my hope that the MACC will carry out their duty without fear and favour like they always do. And eventually this will bring us the truth and justice,” he said.

Lim was arrested on two counts of corruption and is spending the night at the Penang MACC headquarters before being charged at the Penang Sessions Court tomorrow.

He is expected to be charged under Section 23 of the MACC Act and Section 165 of the Penal Code. The sections deal with abuse of power and conflict of interest.

The first charge relates to alleged abuse of power with regard to the re-zoning of land from agriculture to commercial, and the second concerns the bungalow, which he had acquired at below market price.

The seller of the RM2.8 million bungalow was also arrested and is expected to be charged tomorrow.

Lim has previously denied wrongdoing.

Salleh: The matter should be left to the courts

Meanwhile, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak says the matter should be left to the courts.

“The prosecution must now prove its case and the judge will have to decide whether the evidence proves that Guan Eng is guilty.

“The fact that today the court awarded five opposition detainees more than RM5 million in damages shows that not every time the government wins its case,” he said.

He was referring to the Federal Court decision to uphold the award of more than RM5 million to five former Internal Security Act detainees, including PKR vice-president Tian Chua, who sued the government for wrongful detention.

“So I am sure if Guan Eng is innocent the court will say so,” he said.

He also reminded the opposition that they had previously demanded no interference in Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission investigations.

Now that Lim has been arrested following an MACC investigation, he said, the opposition should let the judicial process take its due course.

[READ: Kiniguide on the bungalow purchase controversy]