Gerakan needs new leaders to remain relevant

Teng Chang Yeow will start as an overwhelming front-runner for the chairman post due to his experience and track record, but Baljit Singh is no pushover as he too has support.

GEORGE TOWN: Some leaders in Gerakan believe that the party has buried the “ghosts” of the 2008 general election debacle with the decision of their two veteran leaders not to contest in the state’s party polls.

This Sunday, Penang Gerakan will pick a new team with either former Penang Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Teng Chang Yeow or its state legal bureau head, Baljit Singh, as the new chairman.

What attracted the pundits’ attention was the move by incumbent chairman Dr Teng Hock Nan and his rival, Chia Kwang Chye, to step down, paving the way for a “Teng versus Baljit” contest.

Both Hock Nan and Chia have also refrained from commenting on the elections as it is believed that they do not want to be seen as taking sides.

Their decision not to contest was much appreciated as it allows Gerakan to move on from the past two general election debacles of 2008 and this year, where the party was wiped out in its home base, said party observers.

Six years later, it is still paying a price as the electorate in Penang has rejected them in favour of the more aggressive DAP.

The first oversight was the poor leadership by former Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon after he had allowed the squabble between Hock Nan, Teng and Chia to persist over who should lead Penang Gerakan.

The second mistake was allowing a contest for the state chairmanship between Chia and Hock Nan in 2009, delaying the “ascendancy” of Teng, who is the younger brother of Selangor DAP strongman Teng Chang Khim.

Teng is seen as BN national chairman and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s choice to lead the Penang opposition as he is not afraid to take on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, who enjoys an almost cult-like status in the state.

“Many see Teng as a leader. After BN was wiped out in the May elections, Teng offered to resign all posts. After a sabbatical he was convinced by the grassroots to make a comeback,” said observers.

In all fairness, one of the factors why Gerakan failed miserably in the May elections was due to the prolonged squabble between Teng, Hock Nan and Chia.

It dragged on for years, causing Najib to intervene in 2012, the observers said.

Teng was only appointed to lead the state BN in 2012, hardly a year before the general election.

“In less than a year what could Teng do against the powerful Lim? We went into battle in Penang with our hands tied,” said one observer.

Goodbye to diplomacy politics

But, Hock Nan, who is said to be bitter as his could not fulfill his legacy of restoring the glory days of Gerakan here, is not giving a “blank cheque” to Teng.

There is a consensus within his faction that they should not allow any leader to become too powerful, citing an example of how Lim allegedly conducts himself in DAP.

Thus, lawyer Baljit was encouraged to take on Teng.

Teng is also no “saint” as he had apparently “goofed” up in the May elections by allowing “outsiders” to campaign in Penang and turning a blind eye to the lavish dinners offered to voters just when the average person here was struggling with rising living costs, Hock Nan’s supporters said.

Gerakan has also worked out a compromise with Hock Nan and Chia’s camps when their proteges were given posts.

Rowena Yap, the fiery leader from Pulau Tikus, who is seen as a Hock Nan supporter, was returned unopposed as state women head while Hng Chee Wey, a young staffer under Chia, won uncontested the post of state youth wing head.

State Gerakan vice-chairman Wong Mun Hoe said the 399 delegates were expected to choose wisely because they knew it had become a “do or die” mission for the multi-ethnic party.

“If we cannot get our act together, it may be Sayonara for Gerakan,” Wong said.

Expect the delegates to choose between the proteges of Hock Nan, Chia and Teng, thus giving room for the likes of Dr Thor Teong Ghee, Michael Heah and Lee Boon Ten given slots in the six-member state committee.

Fourteen leaders are vying for the six elected spots in the state committee.

Teng will start as an overwhelming front-runner for the chairman post due to his experience and track record, but Baljit is no pushover as he too has support.

Since 2008, pundits are unable to predict with total accuracy on what happens in the nation’s politics since many new voices, representatives and organisations, have joined in the fray.

But Penang Gerakan has make it a fairly simple contest where compromise is the order of the party as it looks towards the bigger picture of becoming a credible opposition in the state, which it once ruled for 39 years.

The “diplomacy politics” era of Koh and Hock Nan, have passed on. Now, it is the birth of the “street fighting” generation – a trait identified with Teng.