Koh: No quota system in gerakan leadership

by Giam Say Khoon

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 12, 2008) : Although there are three Indians in Gerakan's central working committee (CWC), the party will not practise a quota system in its top leadership to reflect its multi-racial image, said newly-elected party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

Koh said the new line-up in the top leadership was a step forward in terms of greater multi-racial representation than the previous leadership.

“We are very committed to getting a more multi-racial representation and reflection within our leadership, (but) we do not practise a quota system because we want to encourage people to come out and be recognised on their merit and commitment to party ideology.

"So rather than look it in terms of quota, we would like to make it a process to encourage more participation from members of all ethnic backgrounds and they will be voted in because they are Malaysians with commitment rather than because of their ethnicity," he told a press conference after closing the National Delegates Conference here today.

The three Indian leaders are vice-president Senator Datuk Dr S. Vijayaratnam, CWC members Senator A. Kohilan Pillay, who is Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodity, and lawyer B. Jayanthi.

However, some delegates felt efforts to make the party true multi-racial have been unsuccessful.
A Penang senior delegate told theSun that the results proved that the party was not ready for change.

"The delegates failed to make Asharuddin a vice-president and this caused the party to lose its shine in becoming truly multi-racial.

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"Even if Asharuddin is to be appointed a vice-president by the party president, the impact on Gerakan's efforts to reach this goal would be different and not as strong as being elected," he said.

The participation of Dr Asharuddin Ahmad as the only Malay candidate in the vice-presidents race was seen to have nearly achieved the multi-racial image that the party desired.

Asharuddin, who is chief operating officer of the International College of Health Sciences, polled the fourth highest votes of 537 in the vice-presidents race after newly elected vice-president Huan Cheng Guan (568 votes).

Newly-elected CWC member Dr Hsu Dar Ren admitted that Gerakan is still very much a Chinese-based political party; however, he said the composition of the members was not so important if the members believed in the non-racial cause.

"Although Asharuddin did not win, the majority between Huan and him was just 31 votes. This showed that even with only 10% of Malay members in the party, the Chinese delegates have begun to accept non-Chinese leaders and chose them based on meritocracy.

"He (Asharuddin) was relatively unknown, if he was more well-known to the delegates, he would have won," he said.

Koh, when asked if would accept senatorship and become a minister to have a say in the Cabinet, he said: "Even without being a senator or in the government, I have been and will continue to voice out.

"Whether there is a government post or not, I will play my role, otherwise people will think I am doing this (to become party president) for the sake of a government post, (the answer is) no. And if there is a meaningful and an effective role for me to play, I am willing to play any role including not having a government post."

The new and old Central Working Committee led by Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.

To a question, Koh said the party has yet to have a plan to serve in Sarawak as there are many Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, which maintain close relationships with the party, serving in the state.

Asked if the delegates had again raised the issue of leaving BN, Koh said it was not included in the debate on the five resolutions.


"There were only one or two delegates who said the party has to re-invent and rebrand as well as be more open-minded," he said.

On the relationship between Gerakan and Penang Umno, which had severed ties with each other because of the incident involving Bukit Bendera Umno chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail, Koh said the party will decide on this matter in at some point in the future.

Asked if incumbent secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye will be appointed as a vice-president, Koh said the appointment will be discussed by the CWC members when they meet.

It is believed that Asharuddin will also be appointed as one of the five appointed veeps and former Penang executive councillor Teng Chang Yeow, who is Koh's apprentice, will be appointed as Chia's successor to be the next secretary-general.

Koh also said the party had passed five resolutions to:
> Promote democracy and human rights;
> Promote religious and ethnic harmony;
> Rebuilding the party through reforms;
> Prepare the country's economy to face global challenges; and
> Enhance the education system.

To further enhance the democracy in the country, Koh said the party proposed that the BN set up a committee or taskforce to review legislation such as the Universities and University Colleges Act and the Printing Presses and Publications Act.

He reiterated the need for the government to implement a weekly review mechanism on petrol prices so that the people can enjoy cheaper fuel faster when the world crude oil price is lowered.