Gerakan tries to contain fallout from Lim's quitting, meets tonite

A once-proud logo now in ts twilight

Malaysia Chronicle

Gerakan leaders moved to contain the fallout from adviser Lim Keng Yaik's sudden and dramatic threat to quit the party over the lackadaisical leadership of embattled president Koh Tsu Koon.

However, the approaches they took differed.

"It is a misunderstanding," Tsu Koon told the press in Kuala Lumpur.

"Dr Lim is a great leader and we need to respect his decision to quit and acknowledge his tremendous contribution to the party," Penang Gerakan Youth chief Oh Tong Keong told reporters in George Town.

Deep in its twilight

Nonetheless, whether or not Tsu Koon succeeds in persuading Keng Yaik to retract his resignation letter submitted on Monday evening is moot to many political pundits.

Keng Yaik

To many Malaysians, Gerakan is a political party deep in its twilight, a reflection shared by Keng Yaik himself.

In its hey day, the party had grabbed voters' attention with its multi-racial and progressive platform. But through the decades, especially during Tsu Koon's reign as the Penang chief minister, the party has been seen as a second MCA - subservient to BN boss Umno and without direction of its own.

The internal flare-up came about over a controversial October 10 Extraordinary General Meeting called by a faction in the Penang division.

This group had collected the minimum 60 signatures needed to petition for the meeting, where they plan to table a no-confidence vote against Penang chief Teng Hock Nam.

Tsu Koon - directionless

“Although Tun Dr Lim and I had talked about the Penang situation before, he indicated he would leave it to me and the present leadership to seek solutions. Hence, I had not contacted him directly after the EGM (extraordinary general meeting) move came into the open on September 15. This might have led to some misunderstanding,” said Koh.

Tsu Koon's priorities all wrong

Keng Yaik had slammed Tsu Koon for his soft approach in the Penang EGM.

"He is someone who hates getting involved in solving conflicts for fear of offending people," Keng Yaik told reporters on Monday.

“I’m very sad as the adviser and the former party president for 27 years. Maybe my outburst will shake him up but I don’t think so. What is the point of becoming the adviser when the president doesn’t listen to you? So I’m going to resign,” he said.

He also lambasted Dr Koh for choosing not to attend the EGM and instead attending the opening of the MCA annual general meeting on the same day.

Teng - no confidence vot

“How can he not go for the EGM and try to solve the problem? How can he go to MCA? It shows the priority is all wrong. In all my years as the party president, I had sent my deputy president and secretary-general to represent me at Umno, MCA and MIC assemblies. You (Dr Koh) are more needed to solve problems in Gerakan than doing PR practice,” said the still feisty Keng Yaik.

It remains to be seen if Tsu Koon can persuade his former mentor to reconsider his resignation. An emergency central working committee meeting has been summoned at 8pm tonight at Gerakan’s headquarters to discuss Keng Yaik's resignation.