It’s all about political survival for Gerakan

Gerakan is not a party many will pay much attention to these days. Oh yes, the party has certainly seen better days.

Gerakan is now a pale shadow of its former self; something which even its current crop of leaders can readily agree, I’m sure.

Since 2008, when the party lost its grip on its stronghold of Penang, it had significantly declined in influence and popularity compared to its past achievements and prominence, both at the state and national levels.

Many writers, including my fellow columnists here, have not written anything about Gerakan for quite a while. Neither have I.

I choose to write about Gerakan today as a matter of personal interest even though I’m aware that it will not garner a wide audience, even in a top news portal like Malaysiakini.

Strangely, I had a little affinity for Gerakan in years gone by. I was attracted by its multi-racialism and commitment to the pursuit of a non-ethnic approach in its political struggle.

A flirtation with Gerakan

Let me relate a little story. There was a time in the 90’s when I was seriously thinking of joining Gerakan and utilising the party as a vehicle for my political career.

It was not just me jumping on the Gerakan bandwagon alone at that time, but together with a group of like-minded Sarawakians. Our intention was to establish the Gerakan chapter in Sarawak.

I was younger then, only in my 30s, and my friends and I saw Gerakan as a viable and attractive option.

Gerakan was established in 1968 by respectable personalities and exemplary political leaders Syed Hussein Alatas, Dr Tan Chee Khoon, JBA Peter, former MCA president Lim Chong Eu, Wang Gungwu, and V Veerapan. Later, MCA leader Lim Keng Yaik also joined Gerakan.

I recall having a chat in 1995 to sound our interest in teaming up with Gerakan with Keng Yaik, the then Gerakan president, who was a long-time Perak exco member before joining the federal cabinet.

But the idea came to naught as Gerakan was a BN component party and our group’s intention was to contest against the Sarawak BN parties. It was impossible for a Gerakan chapter in Sarawak to fight its BN allies.

We then went on to form our own local Sarawak party which was approved by then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1997.

Keng Yaik retired before the 2008 general election and after being awarded the “Tun” title, he refrained from commenting on political affairs.

I met Keng Yaik again several times in his Bandar Utama office and he would invite me for lunch regularly as well. The good doctor was a nice and jovial man noted for his jokes which also endeared him to many, including me. Sadly, Lim passed on in 2012 after losing his battle with the big “C”.

PN membership unsurprising

Koh Tsu Koon, Mah Siew Keong, and Dominic Lau, the Gerakan presidents who came after Lim were unfortunate to inherit a party that was already losing support and influence, partly because of weaker leadership and the changing political landscape that was unfolding in the country.

It came as no surprise to me that the current president, Lau, decided to align Gerakan with Perikatan Nasional (PN), now an opposition coalition.

Officially joining PN in February 2021, Lau described Gerakan’s support as necessary for the sake of political stability to hasten the recovery of Malaysia from the pandemic.

Gerakan president Dominic Lau

At that time, PN was the dominant partner in the federal government with its chairperson, Muhyiddin Yassin, as prime minister.

Today, Gerakan is still aligned with PN which is actually not a wrong move in the short term, in my view. As a Chinese-based party, Gerakan would have no role to play in the current unity government as DAP and MCA are also Chinese-based entities.

It makes sense for Gerakan to be in PN, awkward as it may seem to the Chinese community, principally because of the presence of the fundamentalist PAS as a PN partner too.

But to Gerakan today, it is all about political survival, and rightly so. No one will help you if you don’t help yourself. Lau and his team must surely be aware of this.

What’s the long-term strategy?

The Gerakan president and his people must now come up with the right strategies and tactics to win elections, maintain support from their intended constituents, and navigate political dynamics as best they can.

It is also important for them to forge relationships with other influential individuals or groups, apart from those in PN, in order to secure broader support, access resources, and consolidate power.

Sooner or later, the Gerakan leadership must prove that it can also be effective in addressing issues that resonate with the electorate, such as improving the economy, healthcare, education, and security.

The coming state elections will be a litmus test for Gerakan to see how its alignment with PN is perceived by its support base.

I do not see Gerakan making many inroads electorally in any state it is contesting in the coming polls but it is a beginning for the current younger leaders to start charting its direction towards bringing back the party’s glorious days of the late 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.

Even as I wish Lau and his team the very best for the state elections, I must also be upfront and tell them that continuing in a coalition with a band of known traitors in Bersatu and religious fanatics in PAS should not be an option in the long term.

Gerakan’s founding principles and struggle for a multi-ethnic identity where minority rights and empowerment are respected cannot be in sync with those of their PN partners.  - Mkini

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH is a veteran Sarawak editor and heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS). He can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.