Huan: Its a conspiracy against me

(The Sun) Gerakan vice-president Huan Cheng Guan, who was suspended by the party’s central working committee (CWC) on Saturday, yesterday denounced the decision as a conspiracy against him.

He slammed the party leaders for scheming and taking action against its own members when  they can’t even defend the party from attacks by the Opposition or outsiders.

“I urge the CWC to take legal action against (businessman) Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping who had blamed party president and former Penang chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon’s inaction for the slow development of Penang,” Huan told theSun in a telephone interview.

“Tan had condemned Koh over the way he managed the state when he was the chief minister. So, if the CWC has any backbone at all, they should take legal action against Tan for his comments against Koh,” he said.

Huan, who was apparently livid over his three-year suspension from the party, also alleged that the party leaders are only good at scheming and taking action against party members.

“When they are faced with the Opposition, they are like a headless chicken and are unable to defend themselves,” he said.

As for his suspension from the party, Huan said it is obvious the action was due to fear on the party leaders’ part.

“This is obviously a conspiracy against me as they are worried about my popularity amongst the grassroots and members,” he said.

Huan said he won the vice-president post in the previous party elections because of his popularity even though he was not a “favourite” among the leaders, especially former party president Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

“They are trying to get rid of me because they are worried about me contesting in the next party elections. They are afraid of me and they are afraid even of my shadow,” he added.

Huan also condemned the CWC for taking the decision of suspending him without giving him any chance to explain himself.

“They like to condemn MCA, DAP or even Umno and say Gerakan is always transparent and full of conscience, but what’s this?

“Even in Umno, a person in question is called in to explain to the committee before a decision is made,” he said.

He said the right way to go about it is for the CWC to form a disciplinary committee to investigate the matter and also to call him in for questioning before making any decisions.

“They can’t simply call a CWC meeting and decide to suspend me. Who knows what was discussed in the CWC? They could even say I received RM10mil from Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and I won’t be able to defend myself at all,” he said.

Huan slammed the CWC’s allegation that he was instigating some party members to put up banners and some 5,000 members to quit the party.

“They think these members can’t think for themselves? They can’t just blame this on me,” he said.

As to whether this means he will quit the party for good, Huan said he will wait and see for now.

On Saturday, Gerakan issued a statement on the CWC’s decision to take disciplinary action against Huan by suspending him for three years.

The reasons cited were Huan’s conduct in openly attacking the party and its leadership and threatening to take his supporters out of the party.

Late last month, Huan reportedly said he would quit the party due to his unhappiness with the party leadership and he was issued a show-cause letter to explain his public outburst.

However, on June 15, Huan said he would continue to be a Gerakan member and was willing to face the consequences.