It has been a rough couple of weeks for Gerakan.
Party president Dominic Lau defended Chinese vernacular schools that received donations from alcohol breweries after PAS triggered a controversy over a deputy minister who accepted a RM3 million mock cheque displaying a Tiger Beer logo at a fundraiser for a Chinese school in Sungai Pelek, Selangor a couple of weeks ago.
The Islamist party had earlier said that the schools’ acceptance of donations from these companies was “unhealthy and immoral to the education system”, conveniently ignoring the fact that these schools, which have been given lack of development funds given by the government, have no other option but to resort to taking public and corporate donations.
PAS was unhappy with Lau’s stance over the matter, with the party’s information chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari hinting that the party would not reject the possibility of severing ties with Gerakan come the next general elections (GE16).
Then, Gerakan deputy president, Oh Tong Keong, in defence of his president, said that Gerakan would not hesitate to leave PN if its coalition allies continued to display religious extremism and infringe on the rights of non-Muslims.
This prompted PAS’ firebrand Kedah Menteri Besar Sanusi Nor and vice-president Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah to call upon Gerakan to leave the coalition, saying that the “door is open” for the party to do so.
The spat between both parties was eventually settled following intervention by Bersatu, whose president Muhyiddin Yassin is the coalition chairman. The spat was described by Bersatu (and PN’s) secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin as “minor family disputes”.
Oh’s threat reminded me of an article that I wrote back in July last year (when I was employed with Free Malaysia Today), on division among Gerakan members with regards to the party’s membership in PN. In the article, a party insider told me that many of its members are unhappy with PAS’ statements which generally target non-Malays and non-Muslims.
These members do not want the party to be associated with PAS, according to the source. However, the same source also told me that these disgruntled members do not want to push for Gerakan to quit the coalition so as “not to rock the boat”.
Now, Oh’s threat is making me wonder whether he is speaking on behalf of members who are already having “buyer's remorse” after joining PN.
Are some Gerakan members having thoughts about leaving Perikatan Nasional? Have they become worried that PAS’ increasingly extreme rhetoric on race and religion would hurt the party’s efforts to win non-Malay votes for PN, who relies upon the party to win non-Malay support for it?
Gerakan won’t quit PN
But here is the reality: Gerakan would not quit the coalition out of contempt towards PAS’ politics as it needs the coalition to survive politically.
The party has been a pariah since it was trounced in the 14th general elections, which forced it to leave Barisan Nasional (BN). It has since branded itself as a third force and contested in the Tanjung Piai by-election in 2019 - only to lose the election deposit.
The party realised that it could never survive on its own and needed to join established political coalitions to survive and possibly make a comeback. This is why Gerakan joined PN in February 2021 - even though the coalition was too communal and right-wing for a multiracial, centrist party like Gerakan.
Since joining PN, the party struggled to win seats in non-Malay and mixed seats, until it won the Kulim state seat in the Kedah state election held in August 2023 through candidate Wong Chia Zen - who is currently holding the Kedah state committee chairman position for Chinese, Indian and Siamese community affairs.
Let us be honest here: Gerakan did not win Kulim because of its own strength, but by leveraging on solid Malay backing towards PN. Kulim is a Malay-majority seat, therefore, it is “natural” for PN to win the seat, no matter who is the candidate.
Let us not forget that leveraging on Malays' support also helped Lau to make inroads in the Malay-majority Bayan Lepas seat in last year's Penang state election by losing to Pakatan Harapan with only 1,889 votes. He would have earned himself a humiliating loss if not because of Malay voters there.
With Gerakan finally having an elected representative five years after leaving BN, things seem to be changing towards the better for Gerakan in terms of regaining relevancy, although the party has a long, arduous road ahead to achieve its goals as non-Malays still do not trust PN.
Gerakan’s sceptics can question whether the party could regain relevancy and ditch the "Gelakan" (joke) label for good, but they can never deny the fact that the party could somehow win a handful of seats in future elections as long as it continues leveraging on Malays’ support for PN.
Therefore, why would Gerakan ditch PN when its survival now hinges upon the Malays?
Why would Gerakan quit PN due to PAS’ politics since the former could still count on PAS supporters to vote for its candidates in future elections out of solidarity and loyalty to PN, despite the recent spat?
Why would Gerakan ditch PN when it helped the party to become part of a state government?
Why would Gerakan ditch PN when it could help Dominic to win a Penang state seat in the next state elections?
I think I have made my point clear on why Gerakan won't leave PN, despite the threat made by the party’s number two, and PAS' extreme race and religion politics that "unease" Gerakan.
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