Suspended Gerakan vice-president Huan Cheng Guan today claimed that party president Dr Koh Tsu Koon had failed to keep his promise to keep the suspension only for six months.

koh tsu koon huan cheng guan gerakan He said that Koh had gone against his words by allowing the party central working committee (CWC) to inflict a three-year suspension instead.

He has wants Koh to explain publicly on why he allowed the CWC to impose the lengthy suspension.

"Has Koh succumbed to pressure exerted by several CWC members?

"What happened to his promise to keep my suspension short ... for six months?" asked Huan, the suspended party Batu Kawan division leader.

Koh's promise

"Koh had vowed to me to keep my suspension for only up to half year when we met on several occasions recently," alleged Huan, raising suspicion that there were hidden hands at work behind the scene.

He alleged that his three-year ban could have been desired certain party top leaders "who hated to see me climbing up the ladder."

Huan also cried foul that he was not given a chance to defend himself when the CWC held a meeting on June 19 to deliberate on his reply to a party show-cause letter.

"I was never called up by the CWC to attend the meeting and defend myself over the accusation that I had acted to the detriment of party interests," he told Malaysiakini today.

He holds Koh responsible for his predicament and wants the party president to fully explain the legitimacy and rationality behind his suspension.

"Keeping quiet and shying away from media scrutiny over the issue will not help.

"Koh needs to speak and resolve the controversy," demanded Huan.

The show-cause letter dated June 1 gave Huan 14 days to explain his alleged misconduct, which he duly did.

Like Huan, several local branches have accused the party leadership of conducting a mistrial, in which the suspended leader was not given a hearing.

The branches - Taman Supreme, Batu Kawan and Stadium - all from Penang mainland, also slammed the suspension as being made by "hanging judges in a kangaroo court" and was against grassroots sentiments.

The Kedah Gerakan youth movement has also joined the chorus of growing dissension among party members over Huan's suspension

Fear of party collapse

At at meeting last night, the movement called on the party leadership to give due consideration to Huan's immense contributions to the party and reduce his suspension period.

State youth chief Tan Keng Liang urged Huan to use proper party channels to air his grievances.

He said the open attack on the party leadership via the media would not help Huan's cause.

huan cheng guan gerakan penang pc event 150609 04 "Huan should resort to internal avenues to resolve his problems," said Tan.

Several party leaders have expressed fear that Gerakan would implode if it failed to quickly resolve the Huan controversy.

They claim that that Huan had been victimised by several old guards who felt threatened by his growing popularity and political credibility within the party.

Party insiders acknowledged that the ban on Huan, a strong grassroots leader in Gerakan, has already torn the party apart.

Some branch leaders have threatened to dissolve their branches and leave the party if the leadership failed to lift the ban within the next three weeks.