GEORGE TOWN: Penang Umno reiterated its demand for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to resign from his position after he signed the Corruption-Free Pledge (CFP) today.
Its Youth wing chief, Rafizal Abd Rahim, said that as Guan Eng has sworn that he is free from corruption, he should now step down to focus on clearing his name over the graft charge that has been levelled against him.
Fifteen party members clad in white Baju Melayu, who were with Rafizal, also submitted a memorandum to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Dzulkifli Ahmad at Komtar's lobby today.
"We submitted the memorandum today to request that the MACC do whatever necessary so that Guan Eng's corruption trial will start as soon as possible.
"For Guan Eng, we are calling on him to step down and clear his name as soon as possible on his corruption charges. We have included this in the memo as well," Rafizal said today.
On June 30 last year, Lim and businesswoman Phang Li Khoon claimed trial to two counts of corruption at the High Court here.
On the first count, Lim was accused of having used his position as a civil servant to obtain gratification for himself and his wife, by approving an application by Magnificent Emblem Sdn Bhd to convert agricultural land to residential land, while chairing a state Planning Committee meeting on July 18, 2014.
For the second charge, Lim was accused of using his position to purchase a house from Phang for RM2.8 million, which was a price he knew was below the property's market value of RM4.27 million, on July 28, two years ago.
The trial is yet to begin pending an appeal for a motion to declare Section 62 of the MACC Act as 'unconstitutional'.
Rafizal said that Dzulkifli promised to look into the matter.
Earlier, Dzulkifli attended the CFP signing ceremony with state government.