He said that he was doing so as current president Mah Siew Keong had announced that he would not be defending his post.

“After Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong’s announcement, I received a lot of calls from party veterans, members and non-governmental organisations to take over as president.

“I wish to contribute and thus am offering myself for the president’s post,” he told a press conference here.

Prior to this, Mah was reported as saying that all 23 posts in the party’s top leadership council are up for grabs and this includes the president, deputy president and senior vice-president’s post.

Gerakan, which was a component party of Barisan Nasional until the 14th general election (GE14), has about 300,000 members.

Gerakan did not win a single seat in the May 9 polls.

Nominations are on Nov 10.