What now for Gerakan in Penang?

(Bernama) The outcome of the no-confidence vote against Penang Gerakan chairman  Dr Teng Hock Nan has left the party members in the state with no choice but to close ranks and prepare to face the next general election.

Dr Teng survived the no-confidence vote against him at the extraordinarygeneral meeting (EGM) o  Sunday when 174 delegates voted to reject the motion while 145 voted for his ouster. One vote was spoilt.

Political observers feel that the decision should be respected and party members who had sought a change in leadership should remain patient and support the current leadership.

A party veteran who only wanted to be identified as Lim said it was more important that Gerakan should rise again and recapture all the parliamentary and state seats it had held over the past 30 years or so.

“It cannot be denied that many were disappointed with the massive loss of Gerakan in the 12th general election in 2008, but we must accept the fact that the defeat of the Barisan Nasional (BN) in Penang was due to disunity within,” he said.

Lim said that if the disunity prevailed, the BN’s hope of recapturing the state government administration would remain just that.

Gerakan president Dr Koh Tsu Koon, who had reportedly wanted to stay away, was one of those who had voted at the EGM, demanded by a group of party members calling themselves the “Voice of the Grassroots” who did not want Dr Teng at the helm.

The Penang Gerakan leadership crisis is said to have begun with the tussle for the post of Penang chief minister after Dr Koh decided to let go of the state leadership and contest a parliamentary seat in the last general election.

A former senior party leader who did not wish to be identified said three people were said to have been eligible for the post then, namely Dr Teng, Chia Kwang Chye and Teng Chang Yeow.

“All three were interested in becoming the chief minister and each had a strong influence in the party, but the party leadership did not make any decision and disunity ensued. As a result, all the Gerakan candidates lost in the general election,” he said.

Penang was a stronghold of the Gerakan, but now it remains just a memory as all the elected representatives, including Dr Koh, lost.

A former Gerakan elected representative, who wished to remain anonymous, said it came to a situation of “kill or be killed” by the time the general election neared because they did not want certain candidates to win.

“I cannot express how disappointed I was during the election campaign because some supporters of other BN parties wanted to reduce Gerakan’s influence and did not vote for Gerakan. Also, some supporters of Gerakan did not want to vote for us because they wanted us to lose. In the end, everyone lost,” he said.

Those who “killed” the candidates failed to understand that BN’s strength rested not only on one party, he said, adding that in Penang, in particular, Gerakan, MCA and Umno had to win to form the state government.

He said the crisis in Gerakan and MCA had caused Umno to be the opposition as it had lost its comrades and was unable to form the state government though it had only lost in four state constituencies.

“The present Gerakan crisis is most saddening. When Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is earnestly reviving the BN’s position, there are BN component parties having to put up with in-fighting,” he said.  

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) political science lecturer Dr Sivamurugan Pandian said that since the 2008 general election, Gerakan had not been playing the role of opposition in Penang due to internal problems.

“This should open the eyes of all quarters in the party, which is still embroiled in in-fighting. They should redraw strategies on how to function as an opposition party and not quarrel about who should lead the war,” he said.

Sivamurugan said Gerakan’s bastion was still Penang and the party could not move out of the state although now it was seen to be stronger in Johor and Sabah.

Observers said the crisis in Gerakan had given room for two adversaries of the party – firstly, the opposition pact and, secondly, the former party members disappointed with its leadership.

“To garner strength, there is no other way than for Gerakan members to close ranks,” said an observer.