KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan, the former Barisan Nasional (BN) component party, will contest in any future by-elections involving seats in Penang and others it lost in the 14th General Election (GE14).
Party president Datuk Dominic Lau said the decision was made in its recent central working committee (CWC) meeting, as the party aims to make headway in seats it was familiar with.
This is after it lost all 12 parliamentary and 33 state seats it contested in the May 9 polls, including the urban constituency of Batu that Lau contested.
“We have decided in our meeting that there are two factors to be considered if we want to contest in a by-election. One is seats we contested before, because we know the ground and the people.
“Secondly, we will contest in all by-election in Penang, because we want to test the support we have there now for Gerakan,” he told a press conference after attending the party’s 51st anniversary at its headquarters, here today.
Gerakan had been a dominant force in Penang since 1969, having controlled the state for 39 years before it lost state power in 2008.
Since GE14, Gerakan has sat out all six by-elections that were called, namely the parliamentary seats of Port Dickson and Cameron Highlands and the state by-elections for Sungai Kandis, Balakong, Seri Setia and Semenyih.
Lau explained that the decision not to contest in all six polls was made after with consulting state and division leaders.
“Of course we wanted to contest, but when we studied the seats and asked our machinery to understand if we were prepared for the polls, the feedback from them is we were not,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lah said Gerakan has identified 52 early potential candidates for the next general election slated in four years time, as it aims to return to Parliament and state legislative assemblies, especially in Penang.
“These 52 frontliners will represent Gerakan to get our message across to the rakyat. A series of training will given to them to train and prepare them for GE14.
“It does not necessarily mean they will be a sure candidate, but we have to prepare them for the polls,” he said, without divulging any names.
