We lacked the numbers to push our agenda, says Gerakan Youth head

Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang said his party was unable to compel the previous BN administration to implement policies sought by his party because they lacked the numbers in Parliament.

In contrast, he said PKR and DAP - which have 50 and 42 seats respectively in the Dewan Rakyat - have the clout to do so.

"With a total of 89 seats, you can now implement policies which Gerakan had failed to push through in our country.

"I admit we have failed due to lack of numbers in Parliament. You can do it now. 100 percent support," wrote Tan on Twitter yesterday.

He pointed out that Gerakan only had "merely" two lawmakers in the last Dewan Rakyat and therefore couldn't steer government policies.

"The notion of why (Gerakan) didn't say this or that during BN's time should not arise. Gerakan did voice it out.

"But we have to face reality as a party with only two MPs. If we had 42 MP seats like DAP or (50) like PKR, then the outcome will be different. Politics is about numbers."

This was among Tan's tweets in response to one Twitter user who accused Gerakan of being a "tin kosong" (empty vessel) when they were part of the BN administration in regards to policies regarding the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).

Tan replied that Gerakan had always advocated for government recognition of the UEC and questioned why Harapan had refused to fulfill their election pledge to do the same.

To another question on why he singled out PKR and DAP, since Harapan also comprises Amanah and Bersatu, Tan replied: "You seriously think the other two are interested in all Malaysians?"

He later pointed out that the Perak government appeared responsive to recognising UEC and that his main contention was that Harapan must implement policies promised during the last election campaign.

"No longer the case of whether we should or should not recognise UEC. It was a promise in the Harapan manifesto and a majority of Malaysians has voted in favour of UEC," said Tan. - Mkini