Lau said being a third force was a “sure way of losing” in the elections, based on past experience.
He was responding to Penang Gerakan Youth chief Tan Zhen Zune, who had asked for the party to position itself as a third force.
Earlier today, Tan said Gerakan showed potential by being able to garner more than 1,700 votes in the Tanjung Piai by-election in November 2019, when up against incumbent Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.
However, Lau gave the example of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who lost his deposit when he contested under the Pejuang ticket in the last general election (GE15) in November 2022.
He said Pejuang had positioned itself as a third force, but failed to win any seat.
“I, too, want to be a third force, but it will result in us losing. Do you want to be like Pejuang? It wanted to be a third force. See where is it now. Today, it is trying to enter Perikatan Nasional,” he said when opening Penang Gerakan’s AGM here today.
Lau was confident that the freedom of non-Muslims will not be encroached by PAS, saying he had personally told his counterpart, Abdul Hadi Awang, about it.
He said some Gerakan leaders and members did not believe that he spoke to Hadi about this issue.
He said he would personally bring Hadi to Penang to hold a dialogue with state Gerakan members, and they were free to confirm this with the PAS president himself.
Lau also reminded Gerakan members not to undermine the party by backstabbing it, saying internal quarrels only weakened the party when its real opponents were outside.
He said criticism was acceptable, but urged members to avoid public attacks on the party’s leaders.
“If you don’t agree with my views, that’s fine. I can explain why I hold a certain position. But don’t attack openly. Our enemy is not inside the party, our enemy is DAP and the Madani government,” he said.
Later, at a press conference, Lau said the reminder on quarrels also extended to parties within PN.
Asked about the apparent Chinese voter apathy ahead of the next general election, he said that ideally, all should come out to vote as it was their civic duty.
“If you don’t vote, good for PN, but still, (it is) better for you to come out and vote,” he said.