Gerakan has 4 criteria for next PN chair - Lau

 

Gerakan president Dominic Lau today said his party has outlined four criteria in backing a candidate for the Perikatan Nasional chairperson’s post.

Primarily, Lau (above) said the individual chosen must not only be acceptable to all four PN component parties - Gerakan, Bersatu, PAS, and the Malaysian Indian People's Party (MIPP) - but also enjoy support across all segments of the society.

He said this is crucial as the PN chairperson candidate, replacing Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, who stepped down effective Jan 1, could potentially become the coalition’s prime ministerial candidate and its “poster boy”.

“Gerakan has its own characteristics (for a PN chairperson candidate) that we want to support and, as we have said before, the leader must be someone who can be accepted by all four parties and, most importantly, by all segments of the Malaysian society.

“Because the PN chairperson candidate could become the PM candidate and also the poster boy for PN.

“We believe this can be resolved because our sole objective is to win the upcoming 16th general election,” said Lau when met after Gerakan’s annual Chinese New Year open house at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

He added that the final decision will be discussed and decided at a PN supreme council meeting, now confirmed for Feb 22.

Objections to PAS taking over

Previously, Muhyiddin’s former private secretary, Marzuki Mohamad, said that Gerakan and MIPP have voiced objections to a proposal for PAS to take over PN’s leadership from Bersatu.

Meanwhile, Lau added that PN’s leadership understands the need to resolve the matter swiftly to avoid public unease.

“We don’t want to burden the people any further, and PN leaders understand that, so we will resolve this soon,” he said.

On a related matter, Lau said while Gerakan is open to accepting new members, it is not the party’s policy to issue invitations to any persons.

“It is not our policy to ask anyone to join, but we are open to all who support our ideology,” said Lau.

He said this when asked if Gerakan would invite former Bersatu associate wing leader Dr Chong Fatt Ful or his members who recently exited the party in the wake of Hamzah Zainudin’s sacking. - Mkini