Gerakan will not hesitate to quit Perikatan Nasional if it means defending Chinese education, said party deputy president Oh Tong Keong.
He said that Gerakan would also not stay in a coalition if it is forced to accept extremely conservative and unreasonable demands of a "particular party".
He said this in response to PAS information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari's warning that PN may drop Gerakan in the next general election, after the two parties took opposing stances on the issue of a brewery channelling funds to vernacular schools.
"Gerakan reaffirms its firm support for the Chinese community's efforts to raise funds for Chinese education.
"Even if unreasonable threats from PN allies that there will be no further cooperation in the next general election, we are prepared to face it," Oh (above) said in a statement today.
Gerakan yesterday backed DAP’s stance of supporting vernacular schools working with breweries to organise fundraising events.
The party's view is that such fundraisers are necessary because Chinese schools have not been given sufficient funds by the federal government to continue their operations.
Fadhli, however, said such views were disappointing, and warned that if Gerakan maintains such opinions, PAS would not cooperate with Gerakan in the 16th general election.
Oh, however, retorted that Gerakan previously left BN in 2018 to oppose corrupt coalition partners.
Similarly, he said, if coalition partners in PN continue to exhibit religious extremism and infringe on the rights of non-Muslims, Gerakan will not hesitate to leave a political coalition once again.
"Even if PAS has the most parliamentary and state seats and is the largest party in PN, it must respect the other member parties in the coalition.
"They should not act like the taikor (big brother) and demand compliance from all other parties. They must learn to convince others through reasoning," Oh said.
He reiterated that Gerakan upholds the principle of non-racial political struggle and defends the rights of all ethnic groups as guaranteed by the Federal Constitution.
He added that there is nothing wrong with Chinese and Indian Malaysians defending and maintaining mother-tongue education. It should not only be unobstructed but also encouraged and supported.
‘Stop being an ostrich’
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Kampar MP Chong Zhemin today challenged Lau to stop being an ostrich and avoid the threats made by Fadhli.
Instead, the DAP lawmaker urged Lau to defend the last shred of Gerakan's dignity by decisively leaving PN and severing ties with PAS.
Gerakan is the second most junior party in PN. It has no parliament seats but has one state seat in PAS-controlled Kedah - which it won during last year's state election. - Mkini
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