PUTRAJAYA, May 3 — A news report that DAP chairman Lim Guan Eng will be back as Penang chairman, replacing incumbent Chow Kon Yeow, is mere hearsay, the party’s secretary-general Anthony Loke said today.

He said he has not received any official push for this so far.

"It was reported that three Penang assemblymen are behind this move but I have not received any memorandum letters so far. So it is only rumours,” he told a news conference here this afternoon.

A Malaysiakini report today alleged that three Penang assemblymen were plotting to prevent Chow from being reappointed as chief minister, purportedly for being "ineffectual”.

The three were allegedly planning to propose Lim, who was Chow’s predecessor, as the party’s candidate for chief minister after the state election expected in July.

In a separate report, Chow said he was unaware of dissatisfaction with his performance.