Lim said Penang Front Party’s (PFP) plan to turn Penang into a casino resort a la Macau if it wins had a sinister objective and this was unacceptable.
Lim said if PFP wanted to contest the elections to topple the current government, it was acceptable.
“But to ask for support in turn for a casino? Is this a new thing?” he said at a press conference in Komtar today.
Lim said it was also startling that PFP’s adviser, Umno’s Padang Besar MP Zahidi Zainul Abidin, accepted the new party’s proposal.
“I want to ask if this is a new policy by Umno — to have a casino in Penang?
“Does Umno want a casino in Penang?
“Having casinos is not part of the Penang Government’s policy. We do not agree with (having) casinos here.”
PFP was officially registered on Sept 9 and announced that it aspired to turn Penang into the next Macau.
Its pro tem chairman, Lim Poh Kong, said it would obtain a casino licence from the Federal Government to spur tourism in Penang.
PFP has openly said it was pro-BN but will only contest exclusively in 25 Chinese-majority state seats here.
The party believes a casino, only for tourists, can contribute RM3 billion in income annually and this would greatly help the state’s economy.