Gerakan hopes four years enough to turn the tide in GE14
Gerakan is going back to the drawing board as the party seeks to regain lost ground, says acting national president Datuk Chang Ko Youn
Chua Sue-Ann, fz.com
After yet another disappointing election outing, Gerakan is hoping that the next four years is enough time for the party and Barisan Nasional to turn the tide of popular support in their favour.
Gerakan is going back to the drawing board with the next general election in mind as the party seeks to regain lost ground and the crushing defeats it suffered in the past two general elections.
When officiating the party’s post-general election meeting, Gerakan’s acting national president Datuk Chang Ko Youn acknowledged that BN had been “overwhelmed” by national issues raised by the opposition.
This effect appeared to override the development and public service route which BN has been campaigning on.
The opposition had largely campaigned on a slew of national issues and scandals such as good governance, human rights, security, crime, transparency and corruption.
“If we start with the first step, second step, third step, I’m sure we can gain back some support if not all (at the next general election).
“I appeal to voters. We do not have revolutions here, we have democratic processes. You can’t expect the government to do wonders, wave a wand and have change overnight,” Chang told a press conference after his opening speech.
Drawing from his own campaign experience, Chang said he still managed to win 20% votes from the Chinese community in the Beruas constituency on the back of years of public service and networking.
“But that is completely inadequate. There are issues far bigger than services and development,” said Chang, who was defeated in Beruas.
According to Chang, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had set the right direction for Malaysia with his transformation plans but voters might have felt like the pace and implementation was not up to par.
BN has taken some concrete steps to address the people’s unhappiness on hot button issues like corruption, transparency
These measures include making the judiciary and the Malaysian Anti -Corruption Commission more independent and having an oversight mechanism for enforcement agencies.
Chang noted that the opposition could make all sorts of promises to the people as it was not the incumbent federal government, but added that some of these pledges may not be rooted in reality.
Another problem is BN’s issue of credibility, especially amongst young and urban voters, Chang said.
“BN needs a new image and approach to capture the imagination and support of voters,” he said.
Chang said BN will need to address the needs and desires of new voters which he said could reach 2.5 million at the next general election.
“If we do not get their support, we can expect our popular votes to go down,” Chang said.
Nevertheless, the recent general election also saw an additional 2.4 million first-time voters, about 40% of which are believed to be young voters.
When asked, Chang conceded that BN’s strategy to engage new voters may not have been correct.
“We were quite apprehensive, we sensed some doubts … But we thought what we did was enough to convince them,” he said.
Gerakan today held a “brainstorming session” with its national leadership and all its candidates contesting in the recent 13th general election.
The BN component party is seeking to examine the strengths and weaknesses of its party and BN during the hotly contested election campaign.
