Malaysia party to name sec-gen as Penang chief

PENANG, Malaysia (Reuters) - A Malaysian opposition leader who was jailed in 1999 for sedition has been nominated as the new chief minister of Malaysia's industrial state of Penang after a stunning election win, a party official said on Sunday.

The Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP), led by Lim Guan Eng, took control of Penang and added parliamentary seats across the country as the opposition handed the ruling coalition its biggest upset ever.

"It is already understood that the chief minister will be Lim Guan Eng," said the party official, who declined to be named.

The official said the DAP would form a coalition government in the state, a major hub for U.S. technology firms, with de facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

The 47-year-old Lim, an accountant by training, is the eldest son of veteran opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.

In 1999, Guan Eng was jailed for a year for sedition after he organised mass rallies calling for the resignation of then Malacca chief minister Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik.

He was barred for standing for elected office for five years following the conviction.

(Reporting by Niluksi Koswanage; Editing by Bill Tarrant)