He said this in explaining the coalition’s decision to field former Penang deputy chief minister 1 Mansor Othman in the Nibong Tebal parliamentary seat.

The PN information chief added that Mansor was not afraid to reprimand DAP leaders when he was part of the state government.

Azmin then called out PKR for being like “mice” when dealing with DAP leaders, particularly its chairman Lim Guan Eng and party supremo Lim Kit Siang.

“Anwar (Ibrahim) does not dare criticise Guan Eng and (Dr) Wan Azizah (Wan Ismail) is afraid of speaking up against Kit Siang,” he said at a ceramah last night.

“That is why PN is fielding a candidate in Nibong Tebal who dared to speak up against Guan Eng,” he said.

Mansor is a former Penang PKR chief and served as Penang DCM 1 from 2009 to 2013. He joined Bersatu in 2020. He is also a two-term Nibong Tebal MP and won the seat in the 2018 general election (GE14) with a 15,817 majority.

While Azmin did not go into detail, it was previously reported that Mansor had described Guan Eng as “arrogant” in a leaked recording ahead of the 2013 general election (GE13).

Mansor had also claimed that Penangites were starting to think of Guan Eng as a “tokong” (a deity).

However, he later clarified that it was a term of endearment. He also denied calling Guan Eng “arrogant”.

Azmin also took a swipe at PKR for fielding “a crony” in Nibong Tebal. Senator Fadhlina Sidek will be contesting under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) banner in the polls on Nov 19.

Separately, Azmin claimed credit for the foreign direct investment (FDI) worth RM68 billion into Kedah to date, including German car maker Porsche setting up shop in Kulim.