Her comments come after Gerakan Youth chief Jason Loo said he had received three defamation suits from Lim and felt the suits were an attempt to silence him.
He has since written an open letter to Lim claiming that he was victimised by the CM.
In a statement today, Raja Syarafina said she was surprised over the letter by Loo as he had appeared to be brave in making the statements before.
“For example, Loo had sent a ‘thank you’ card to Lim two months ago after he was not sued by the CM over remarks he made over a land sale.
“His logic was naively simple; he must be right about the sale of state land on Peel Avenue just because he wasn’t served with the cause papers,” she said, calling it an “entertaining stunt but nevertheless, a childish attempt”.
“But on March 6, he sang a different tune. Now, faced with multiple statements of claim from Lim’s solicitors, Loo’s original confidence of a man who made defamatory statements earlier is gone.”
Syarafina also criticised Loo for writing “emotional open letters” to paint himself as a victim, calling for him to instead focus on coming out with a statement of defence to the suits filed against him.
“Loo’s claim that he might be bankrupted and lose his eligibility to contest in the coming polls is misplaced.
“Unless Gerakan has a rule that prohibits its members with ongoing legal suits against them from contesting in the general election, he should be safe,” she said.
She added that Loo should know that except for bankrupts and those with convictions involving punishment of imprisonment and/or fines exceeding a certain limit, any Malaysian can be a candidate in the elections.
“The polling date is anyone’s guess for now, but is Jason expecting a conviction anytime before August 2018?” she asked.
FMT has contacted Loo for comment and is awaiting his reply.
The three suits by the CM against Loo were over the statements the latter made on the sale of the Peel Avenue state government land.
Besides the three suits, Loo was sued by tunnel builders Consortium Zenith Construction in 2016 over his statements on the undersea tunnel project.
The tunnel suit is set for case management in October, while the other two suits on the Peel Avenue land sale are fixed for hearing this month.
The Peel Avenue land involves a piece of government land sold to a hospital.
On May 31 last year, Lim had stated that the sale was made with the consent of the whole state executive council.
He was responding to Gerakan’s claims that it was a “one-man show” decision to sell the Peel Avenue land to a private hospital for RM156 million.
“All deals related to the hospital were done with the agreement of the state executive council.
“Can Gerakan show proof that I, the chief minister, decided the sale on my own?
“I challenge that person to show proof, or else he is a liar,” Lim had said.
He said those unhappy with the price of the land sold can complain to the finance minister as the land was sold at higher than the government valuation price.
The deal had come under the spotlight of the Penang opposition after it was sold through direct negotiations instead of open tender, as is usually done by the state government.
Lim defended the sale, saying it would bring RM2 billion to RM7 billion in economic value to the state, creating 2,000 jobs and wooing medical talent from overseas.
Lim had said the land was sold higher than the finance ministry’s valuation of RM148 million for a 99-year-lease. The Valuation Department had recommended that the land be sold at RM156 million if the buyer sought a freehold title.
Where is freedom of expression, asks Gerakan leader facing 3 suits by Guan Eng