Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon today made a passionate plea to party rank and file, urging unity in a bid to overcome its zero-record, after being completely wiped out of its home state of Penang in the last general election.

"Penang has been and will always be the heart of Gerakan. We are grateful for the opportunity to have served and worked together to change the destiny of the state and Malaysia, our hearts and minds will always be with the state and the people of Penang.

"If we are truly 'Satu Hati' (one heart), the people will surely give us a chance to break the zero and perhaps even more. We aim to do a lot more for the people of Penang," he told delegates at the 41st Gerakan National Delegates Conference at its headquarters this morning.

NONE The call for 'Satu Hati' comes a day after the Gerakan youth chief Lim Si Pin ( right ) accused the party's leadership of being dominated by warlords and preventing access to new blood.

The clarion call to break zero also comes after DAP's boast in March this year to let BN "eat eggs" in Penang.

Gerakan had ruled Penang for close to 39 years but abruptly lost every seat it contested in the state in the last general election.

More than nostalgia

Koh also took a shot at the opposition for dismissing the party as irrelevant, pointing out that Gerakan's contribution to Penang had more than nostalgic value - it was a testament against its critics.

In a dig at Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, Koh declared: "In Penang, the opposition CAT (Competence, Accountability, Transparency) has now become Cocky, Arrogant, and Tokong. That is CAT".

"There are many issues now that has been exposed in Penang and elsewhere (about Pakatan Rakyat). For four and a half years, we have been attacked, now is time for us to strike back.

"We will also work to recapture, Kedah, Selangor and even Kelantan and defend Perak, Johor and Sabah which is being attacked by the opposition. We are going to attack and defend," he said.

Koh said while Gerakan was supportive of a two-coalition system, the people would ultimately have to decide based on the captains of both coalitions.

"Some may pin their hopes on (opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim, but to me, (Prime Minister) Najib Abdul Razak is indeed a much better choice. He is known to be friendly but most importantly, he is fair and firm," he said.

S Pakatan dinner Anwar To prove his point, Koh related an encounter with both and Anwar ( left ) and Najib in 1997 who were then deputy prime minister and education minister respectively.

"When I was Penang chief minister, I found that the (Penang) director of education post was vacated because someone retired and the next in line was the deputy who had only one and a half years left to retirement. He was of Chinese origin.

'Najib proven fairer than Anwar'

"At that time, Anwar insisted on promoting an officer seven years more junior. I spoke to him, this is not fair. We can promote him after one and a half years (after the successor had retired)... His answer to me was 'No! This is my choice'. He wanted to be prime minister then and he was arrogant."

Following this, Koh said he approached Najib for help and the latter agreed that this was unfair and proceeded to write a letter to promote the deputy director to director.

"This is an example of Najib's 'janji ditepati' (promises fulfilled)," he declared. Koh claimed that this angered Anwar later called him up and shouted at him.

"So who can we trust more?" Koh asked.

He added that while the opposition has urged the people to give change a try with a new government, the fact was change was already in progress.

"If there are people who say why not try and change the government, my answer is why not try a government that has started to change and transform?

"Had BN not done anything after the last general election, I would have been the first one to say change (the government). But we are changing, that is the difference," he said.