Members of the Gerakan Youth wing, that is scheduled to hold one of its most controversial annual general meetings tomorrow, is expected to raise the issue of change of leadership within the party and the resignation of chairperson Teng Hock Nan.

Penang Gerakan Youth’s public service bureau deputy chief Melvin Chin called on all Youth members to unite in the quest of reforming the party, in order to revitalise and rejuvenate Gerakan to be relevant with the changing times.

teng hock nan comments on egm 160910 penang gerakan headquarter “Traditionally, the Youth wing in any party will always act as a pressure group, the one being the most vocal in championing the issues close to the hearts of grassroots members and also the younger generation,” Chin told Malaysiakini .

“We cannot remain in the old mindset of the wait-and-see approach. Too much time is wasted on being on a defensive mode. We should launch an attack-cum-offensive mode, especially in matters pertaining to reform,” he added.

Recently, a group within the party dubbed the ‘voice of the grassroots’ submitted 60 signatures to the state liaison committee calling for an extraordinary general meeting to pressure Teng to step down.

Speculation is rife that the no-confidence vote move, believed to be mooted by the Youth wing, may win the backing of the 393 state delegates on Oct 10.

The party’s 1Malaysia bureau, headed by members of the Youth wing, also publicly expressed the need for reform by getting rid of Teng.

teng hock nan comments on egm 160910 Bureau chairperson Dalbinder Singh Gill, who since resigned on Tuesday, said he fully supports the EGM and urged all delegates to keep in mind the voice of the youth within and outside the party.

Admist the rising storm, Teng ( right ) has remained calm, merely urging Gerakan to focus on other issues of greater importance and urgency.

“Since the group has submitted the signatures (for the EGM), everything has to be handled according to the party constitution,” he had said.

‘Teng behind times’

Meanwhile, Gerakan leaders, especially Teng, had been criticised for not keeping up with the times and engaging members, especially the youth, through social networking sites.

Chin said with the advent of Facebook, Twitter and blogs, more leaders should come forward and engage the grassroots members so that “the leaders can really feel the members’ pulses”.

He said a good example was former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad who had his own Facebook profile and blog called ‘ Che Det ’ to engage with Malaysians.

On the coming state delegates conference for the Youth, Wanita and main body this weekend, Chin expressed the hope that the voices of all the wings in the party could be heard so that the party can move towards the right direction.

“It is very important to go back to the founding principles and ideology of Gerakan. The problem is that over the many years in power, Gerakan has somewhat lost the wind in its sails,” Chin said.

The party had ruled Penang since 1969 before Pakatan Rakyat took over state government in 2008.

“It needs to crucially regain the wind of support otherwise I fear it may be irrelevant to the hearts and minds of Penangites in future,” he added.