By FMT staff
GEORGE TOWN: A Gerakan leader brushed aside a suggestion that the party break ranks with Barisan Nasional just because it had differences of opinions with "big brother" Umno on a number of issues.
Its vice-president Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said differences of opinions between the party and Umno were common in a coalition political system.
“Issues such as the third vote, ISA and Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Zulkifli Noordin are not issues big enough to warrant a split in ranks,” he told FMT today.
Dismissing widespread perception of Gerakan being under Umno's thumb, he claimed that all BN parties were equal in political representation in the coalition's supreme council.
He said all component parties were allowed equal democratic space to voice their opinions on various issues.
Therefore, he said it was not unusual for Gerakan to have different opinions and views with other partners, especially Umno, on any contentious issue.
Such differences, he said, were healthier for the coalition as it would allow for an eventual adoption of a unanimous stance on a particular issue.
“The differences were on small issues... they don't grant a divorce,” said Teng, the Penang Gerakan chairman.
However, he did not rule out the possibility that Gerakan may opt out of BN if there were “big issues involved”.
He did not elaborate the type of issues that Gerakan would consider “big”.
He was commenting on the growing public demand for Gerakan to break ranks with BN to either join Pakatan Rakyat or become an independent party.
Conduct poll on local elections
While Umno is against restoring the local government elections, Kedah Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng has supported the attempts by Pakatan state governments in Penang and Selangor to reintroduce the council polls.
Municipality elections were suspended since 1965 following the Indonesian confrontation. The suspension was then institutionalised via the Local Government Act 1976.
Tan views local elections as more beneficial than detrimental to nation building.
He urged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to assist the Pakatan governments to conduct the polls, including making amendments to related by-laws.
Teng recently called on Umno not to accept PKR outcast Zulkifli into its ranks, labelling the MP as “a person with extreme religious agenda that would undermine other BN partners”.
He said that Zulkifli's entry to Umno would be detrimental to BN because the reasons were so obvious. “He could not accept multi-racial politics".
He said since it would affect other BN partners, Gerakan might as well oppose such a move.
“Gerakan is not meddling in Umno's affair,” he said, addding that his party would raise this issue at the next BN supreme council meeting.
Teng said Gerakan welcomed the third vote because it believed in local democracy and there is a growing public demand for it.
“Restoring local government elections would reflect grassroots sentiments,” he said.
