KUALA LUMPUR: Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau Hoe Chai (pix) today told party members to forget the concept of traditional parliamentary seats ahead of the 15th General Election (GE15).
He explained that the concept of traditional seats or constituencies of a political party is no longer relevant in the current changing political situation.
Lau said Gerakan would determine its own path and would work with Perikatan Nasional (PN) in securing the support of Malaysians in GE15.
âForget the concept of traditional seats, that partyâs constituency, this partyâs seat. Change a mindset like this. No more traditional seats. No such thing. What is important is a candidate who can win in that constituency, â he said, alluding to the past where parties in a coalition would stake a claim to a particular seat.
He said this in the presidentâs policy speech at the 49th Gerakan National Delegates Conference at Dewan Wawasan Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik, Menara PGRM here, which was officiated virtually by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also PN chairman.
The conference was held in the new normal because of the Covid-19 pandemic with some delegates physically present and others participating virtually
With the changed political landscape, he called on party members to be prepared to face any eventuality and expect multi-cornered contests in GE15.
âThere may be three-cornered, four-cornered or one-on-one contests,â he explained.
The PN component (Gerakan), he said, believes that Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin is capable of providing a government for the people and not interfere in the country’s judicial system.
Lau pledged that multiracial Gerakan would help PN to win in GE15 by fully mobilising the party’s machinery.
He also stressed that Gerakan’s participation in PN was because it understood that the coalition is not based on ethnicity.
According to him, Gerakan had also outlined four action plans for the party ahead of GE15, including rebuilding its image, preparing to face multi-cornered contests, starting a ‘war room’ and using social media opportunities in campaigning.
Lau also urged party members to adopt a new approach, namely ‘value innovation’ as a new norm in the political arena.
He said this value of innovation was based on current political needs, including E-election (online) campaigning, which is the new norm expected in GE15 and thus prospective candidates must master various languages ââand also presentation on social media.
Lau further stressed that the party’s target is to win state assembly (DUN) and parliamentary seats.
In the 14th General Election (GE14), Gerakan failed to win any Parliamentary seats and lost all 31 DUN seats it contested. – Bernama
