At the state level AGMs, many grassroots leaders had called for the party to leave BN, blaming the coalition, especially its biggest member Umno, for their electoral setbacks in March.However, those expecting to see a lively Umno-bashing were disappointed. All debate sessions during the conference were held behind closed doors.
Incumbent Gerakan vice-president Dr S Vijayaratnam told reporters that the decision was reached at the central working committee meeting last night at the eve of the conference.
Newly elected president Dr Koh Tsu Koon claimed that some delegates had asked for the debates to be held away from media scrutiny.
“Moreover, the debates are not representative because the time (allocated) is very short,” he said, adding that most of the time was focused on the party elections.
Similarly, Women’s wing chief Tan Lian Hoe said the decision to hold meetings behind closed-doors was due to the party polls that were being held.
"This year is election year. The meetings would have a lot of people coming in and out. We don't want outsiders to get the wrong impression (by seeing empty seats),” she said.
Koh Cool Down Delegates
Some delegates told Malaysiakini that the decision to go closed-doors was to stop any outburst on the party leaving BN which would exacerbate tensions between Gerakan and Umno.
However, both wings did not spend much time on the subject. One Women’s wing delegate said that Tan had even expressed surprise during her winding up speech that the topic was not brought up.
Part of the reason why the topic was not raised was because Koh’s dialogue with party grassroots nationwide had soothed those who wanted Gerakan out of BN.
“The grassroots have cooled down significantly since the Ahmad Ismail incident. Koh visited all states several times. People have accepted his argument,” said one party insider.According to the insider, Koh had argued that Gerakan had little to gain outside of BN and should focus on its struggle within the coalition, even if it risked irking coalition partners.
“He told us that we will have to go all out and fight for the people and ignore the racist statements coming from Umno. The worse thing that can happen is that we will be sacked (from BN),” said another source.
It remains to be seen whether national level delegates would stay away from the issue when they meet and debate the president’s policy speech tomorrow.
Low Turnout
The Youth wing polls today also displayed some surprising figures for the party. Despite the large number of contestants for the four posts, voter turnout was low - ballots were only issued for 45 percent of the 1,039 eligible voters.
According to Taiping Gerakan Youth chief Darren Eng, the figure was considered low since normal election years would see between 60 to 70 percent of voters casting their votes.
“It could be a possible silent protest to support the pull out from BN,” said Eng.
Another party insider however offered a different take and said that many of the candidates were relatively new to party elections and were not capable of effectively drawing more delegates to come out and vote.“Normally, it would be two factions who can rally their own troops and arrange logistics. But this year, it is a free for all by a large group of candidates,” he said.
Contest for the Youth wing was the keenest in recent times. There were three candidates for the Youth chief posts and two for deputy. There were also 28 candidates for the 18 elected Youth wing committee posts.
“They are still young and don’t have that many supporters yet. It would take some time to build support,” said the source, adding that the party grassroots mood to struggle on was still obvious.
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