1,000 GERAKAN MEMBERS TO QUIT
Division deputy chief says they are against party’s move to go against MCA’s Wee in by-election
SOME 1,000 Gerakan members have decided to call it quits with the party in protest over its move to field a candidate in the Tanjung Piai by-election.
Tanjung Piai Gerakan deputy chief Tey Chin Teng said party members from three branches — Rimba Terjun, Jalan Johor and Jalan Parit Masjid — would submit their resignation letters next week.
“These few days, I have received an earful from people who are unhappy that Gerakan decided to contest this byelection, because the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate (Datuk Seri Dr) Wee Jeck Seng is a good man.
“Gerakan’s move to contest will take away up to 3,000 Chinese votes that would have been for Wee,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
Chin Teng, who is Rimba Terjun branch chief, was accompanied by Jalan Parit Masjid branch chief Tey Chin Hock and Jalan Johor branch chief Goh Bee Hong.
Chin Teng has been a Gerakan member for 37 years.
He also took to task Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai for nominating a candidate in the by-election and said the party should have concentrated on its former stronghold of Penang.
“Even Umno supports Wee as candidate. If he (Lau) does not want to support he can go back to Penang and take care of things there.
“I no longer support Gerakan. I am for Wee Jeck Seng,” added
Chin Teng.
Meanwhile, Lau said the multiracial party would respect the decision of those who choose to leave the party.
He said those who disagreed with Gerakan’s ideologies or directions were free to resign.
“We are a democratic political party, so we will respect those who disagree with our ideologies or decide to resign,” he told the
New Straits Times.
Lau said only “a few people” had resigned from the party, and said he did not believe that 1,000 people would be quitting.
“He (Tey) needs to know that we are no longer a part of Barisan Nasional, so our decision to contest is to give an alternative choice to the voters.
“I don’t believe that 1,000 people will resign, but if they wish to do so, we will respect their decision.”
Gerakan has more than 300,000 members nationwide, with 10 per cent hailing from Johor.
In June last year, Gerakan, once a part of BN, left the coalition following its loss in the 14th General Election.
The May 9 general election was also Gerakan’s worst electoral outing; it failed to garner a single seat, either at the parliamentary or the state assembly level.
On Nov 16, the following candidates will battle for the parliamentary seat: Karmaine Sardini (Pakatan Harapan), Wee (BN), Wendy Subramaniam (Gerakan), Datuk Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz (Berjasa) and two independent candidates, Dr Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abd Ghani.