KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — As a party that champions multi-racialism, Gerakan should be thriving now, with more Malaysians seeking to junk the race-based politics that have dominated the country for decades.
Yet as it heads into its annual general assembly today and tomorrow, most analysts are labelling the party as irrelevant and directionless.
“Gerakan is not serious about walking its talk. We’re not seeing any rejuvenation although it has been losing talent,” said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng.
The past 18 months have been turbulent for the 400,000-strong party that was founded in 1968. Its full name is Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, or Malaysian People’s Movement Party. Some 70 per cent of its members are Chinese, with the remainder being Indians and Malays.
Gerakan though, was decimated along with other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties at the general elections last year.
Party members considered and debated leaving the BN, but decided to stay and rebuild. But since then, the fourth-most senior BN party has made little progress of note.
And unlike its two bigger BN partners, Umno and the MCA, Gerakan has not changed its top leader following the general elections. Princeton-educated Koh Tsu Koon remains its president.
On the ground, its troops are bogged down by in-fighting, which manifested openly in the suspension of vocal vice-president Huan Cheng Guan earlier this year.
Signs like these have led many to predict the demise of a party once known for its intellectual stance and independent streak.
Several disillusioned leaders had quit to join the opposition after the general elections.
But Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow said the party only appears quiet because it had been focusing on rebuilding and consolidating.
“We had to get our own house in order first before reaching out. I think the time is ripe now,” he told The Straits Times. “The party’s ideology and struggle are more relevant now than ever.”
In terms of political representation, Gerakan is left with just two MPs and six state assemblymen. It lost Penang state.
In the meantime, the party has seen its multi-racial agenda usurped and used more effectively by the opposition parties.
The party is further hampered by the fact that its power base has been concentrated in Penang. It ruled the state for almost 40 years and staked its position in BN based on that.
Yet most experts and even party insiders concede that Gerakan is unlikely to regain Penang from the DAP in the next general elections.
Penang residents have not forgotten that Gerakan had, over the years, been a silent and willing accomplice to Umno’s arrogance and excesses, said political analyst Ooi Kee Beng.
Even if Gerakan does not win back Penang, however, it is vital for the party to improve on its last election showing to prove that it can stay relevant, said Khaw Veon Szu, executive director of Gerakan think-tank Sedar.
Around 1,800 delegates are expected to attend the annual assembly, where they will explore ways to unite and revamp the party.
But for observers like Khoo, such measures will make little difference. “If Gerakan is really serious about reform, it shouldn’t take so long,” he said. — The Straits Times
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