Press Digest - Best time for Penang snap polls, says Liew Chin Tong

PETALING JAYA: DAP political education director Liew Chin Tong believes that now is the best time for a snap election to be held in Penang when the national Opposition can still call the shots.
A new mandate will not only reaffirm the national Opposition's hold on the state for another five years but also trigger a domino effect in states led by Barisan Nasional (BN), he said in an interview with Sin Chew Daily published today.
He said DAP does not want to follow BN's "script" and time-table but its own, as allowing BN to call the shots may render the party on the receiving end.
Liew said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak is applying the "divide and rule" strategy to weaken the opposition parties.
"Because BN is breaking us (opposition parties) one by one, what we can do is to take down BN in its states one by one.
"The Opposition is no longer as strong as it was at the May 5 (2013 general election) and is being whacked by BN one by one. How is the Opposition going to handle this and be strong again? We cannot play our cards according to the rules in order to turn the tables (on BN)."
He admitted that there is no guarantee of a victory for Pakatan Harapan (PH) should a snap election be called but felt that if the Chinese voters realise that this is a strategy for PH to have the upper hand and not just for the personal issue of Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, PH can retain the two-thirds majority.
Liew, who is Kluang MP, said a snap election will also be the litmus test to gauge the voting trend of the Malays for the next general election.