Huan said DAP frowned on those who voiced complaints against their leader and hence the anonymous posters were the only way to express their feelings.

“We are all aware that Lim has many political enemies. This includes the ones in DAP.

“How are we to know that it was not their own who pasted these posters all over?

“Maybe it is an enemy or his own DAP members? In DAP, no one has the right to voice their unhappiness.”

Huan said he was confident a certain group in DAP was involved in pasting the caricatures.

“Everyone knows Pakatan is very smart in doing something like this, but we are not sure which group did this.”

Earlier today, Umno Online reported the emergence of the posters, pasted on lamp poles and other street structures in Penang.

They portray a caricature of Lim smiling – with his nose and lips coloured red — accompanied by the words “Bersih 5.0”.

At the bottom were these words: “Clean Penang Up From Bungalow Clown”, followed by the words “Expel the Clown” in Chinese.

It closely resembled local artist Fahmi Reza’s sketch depicting Prime Minister Najib Razak as a clown.

Fahmi, who was behind the “Kita Semua Penghasut” and Najib’s caricature, was charged at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court in June for “upsetting others” under the Communications and Multimedia Act, for uploading the caricature on his Instagram account.

In July, Fahmi was slapped with the same charge at the Ipoh Sessions Court.

Earlier, Penang DAP assemblyman R S N Rayer described the clown posters as “despicable” and called on police to investigate the matter and give the guilty person the same treatment meted out to Fahmi.