Has Koh rung the death knell for Gerakan?
Even Gerakan’s foes are sad that the country’s first ‘bona fide’ multi-racial political party is being rejected by the electorate.
Yusmadi, who is the PKR International Affairs Bureau chairman, said Gerakan on the geo-political scene, is a member to the progressive movement charter but within the national context, it is muted.
Hawkeye, Free Malaysia Today
Many believe that Gerakan’s fate was sealed when it joined the Barisan Nasional in the 80s. Now, with one stroke Gerakan president Koh Tsu Khoon has started writing his party’s obituary.
At a press conference today Koh said he will not contest in the next general election. This is seen as Koh abandoning Gerakan and Penang, the citadel of his party’s power.
This is a far cry from Koh’s hey days. Koh was the protégé of then Penang Chief Minister Lim Chong Eu, serving as Lim’s political secretary and chief aide from 1986 to 1990.
Koh became a vice president of Gerakan in 1991 and later deputy president in 2005. On April 8, 2007, following the retirement of long-serving president Lim Keng Yaik, he took over the presidency in an acting capacity. He was formally elected president in 2008.
The Penang PKR has already weighed in by saying Koh’s decision not to contest will not make any political impact in Penang.
Frankly, Gerakan has no choice but to reform, state PKR committee member Yusmadi Yusoff said.
Yusmadi said Gerakan’s political obituary is being written and called for it to exit gracefully from Barisan Nasional (BN) since they can no longer survive politically within the coalition.
Yusmadi said it remains to be seen if Koh’s landmark decision is the start of a sincere change or rather a political ploy to buy time.
He said it was sad that the country’s first “bona fide”multi-racialism political party is now staring at the possibility of been rejected by the electorate.
Yusmadi, who is the PKR International Affairs Bureau chairman, said Gerakan on the geo-political scene, is a member to the progressive movement charter but within the national context, it is muted.
“Why? It is because the party is entrapped by BN’s own racism agenda and a policy, which does not embrace the current globalised changes, as demanded by the younger voters,” Yusmadi claimed.
Leave BN to survive
There is no platform for Gerakan to navigate a liberal and progressive movement in Malaysia, based on its original spirit of multi-racial politics, he claimed.
Therefore, he urged the party to leave BN and instead join forces with fellow reformist parties in the country.
He also invited Gerakan to consider joining Pakatan Rakyat, or risk becoming just a footnote in the country’s political history.
Penang PKR information head Sim Tze Tzin said Gerakan is now dismissed as a formidable force in the Penang political scene.
Concurring with Yusmadi that the party should consider leaving BN, Sim claimed that Koh was once a unifying factor in the party.
“Now with him indirectly retiring with this (landmark) decision, the warlords in the party would be out to kill each other. Factionism exists in Gerakan,” Sim claimed.
“Gerakan is also victimised by its positioning in BN, as the coalition is caught in a time wrap, unable to effectively change or reform.
