KOTA BARU, May 20- Wrong strategies and an unrelenting but blunt attack on DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng were among the reasons why Gerakan failed miserably to recapture Penang in the general election.
Gerakan Youth vice-chairman Ong Khang Woon said in Penang, Lim has become like what (former Kelantan Mentri Besar) Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat is to Kelantan.
“It was a mistake to attack Lim too often with the same issues. Our attacks scared voters. Gerakan must find local issues to ward off the national ones being propogated by DAP. To win people’s hearts, we must know what they want,” he added.
Coupled with the swing from young voters, who really did not know what Gerakan has contributed to nation building, as all they wanted was “change,” it was an uphill battle from the start, Ong concluded.
Gerakan, a party founded in Penang, for the second time failed to win any of the seats it had contested in a general election there.
Most of its candidates lost with a higher majority too in the May 5 election, causing many to become disgrunted and some have stopped dealing with the media.
Former Penang Barisan Nasional chairman Teng Chang Yeow almost quit on the spot after the results were made known, announcing shortly that he was quitting all political posts but he remained a party member.
Ong opined that Teng came into the picture late, the latter was only appointed as the Penang de facto leader some two years ago.
There was hardly any time to muster up a good challenge, against the might of DAP as well as Lim.
According to Ong, Gerakan will not die although some of its leaders will leave.
“We need time to regroup and consolidate. Our party elections should chart our next direction. We shall move on and hopefully the people will accept us again after we have reformed,” he said.
The party for the first time since it joined BN in the 1970s, will not be represented in the country’s federal cabinet after it opted to stay out.
‘Over-confident’
With the ultimate rejection in Penang- the party’s crown jewel, many Gerakan leaders in private have suggested that the party merges with another BN entity, become an opposition party, join Pakatan or cease to exist.
For BN’s first ever multi-ethnic party, the outcome of the election was painful, as many of its candidates had worked hard and sacrificed, Ong said.
Before “1Malaysia” was a tagline, it was Gerakan’s own calling since its formation in 1969, yet the party, which some called the “conscience of BN” now faces a bleak future on the political sidelines.
If one compared the credibility and credentials of Gerakan candidates with Pakatan, the former has a number of exciting and talented technocrats, Ong said.
A veteran party leader in Penang, who preferred not to be named because he does not want his remarks to be an impetus for the impending party election, said there was a level of over-confidence heading into the election in Penang.
“We should have been humble, asking only for a few seats so we can play the role of the opposition effectively. Instead, we went big and scared the voters, who began to consolidate to protect their beloved Lim at all costs,” he said.
It was also pointless to hold concerts, wave big flags and host feasts besides lucky draws as it projects excessiveness and a detachment from the sufferings of the middle-class, he added.
