Gerakan today denied any move within the party to remove its president Dr Koh Tsu Koon despite recent news reports of growing internal dissent over his leadership.

Gerakan deputy president Chang Ko Youn said, in fact, party members and leaders were busy preparing the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party for the 13th general election under Koh’s leadership.

“It’s rubbish. Somebody just want to get some publicity by making such claims,” he told Bernama when contacted.

He was commenting on former party Youth vice-chief S Paranjothy’s claims that there was resentment in the party and that some members were planning to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove Koh.

Paranjothy, who is Taman Ehsan Gerakan chief, claimed that many members in the party were unhappy with Dr Koh’s style of leadership as he was perceived to be a “yes-man” and had ignored views and issues raised by the party’s youth and women’s wings.

He was also reported as saying that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was more interested in safeguarding his own political position in the federal government and had ignored problems in the party.

Koh was also criticised for not disclosing strategies to win back Penang from the opposition pact.

However, Chang explained that it was normal for any party member to have differing opinions on issues, but this did not mean that they were planning to topple the party leadership.

More branches and new members under Koh

In fact, he said, under Koh’s leadership, the party had been able to form more branches and recruit new members across the country.

He said Gerakan had managed, for example, to woo four independent assemblypersons - three in Sabah and one in Pahang - into the party.

The four are Peter Pang En Yin (Karamunting), Raymond Tan Shu Kiah (Tanjung Papat) and Au Kam Wah (Elopura) - all from Sabah, while the state assemblyperson from Pahang is Ho Yip Kap (Tanah Rata) who won as an independent candidate in the 2008 general election.

Pang quit the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and became an independent before joining Gerakan in March this year, while Tan and and Au quit Sabah Progressive People’s Party (SAPP) and became independents after the party pulled out of the BN in September 2008.

Both Tan and Au joined Gerakan in 2009 while Ho joined the party in early 2010.

Apart from that, Chang said that former Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) vice-president Liew Yun Fah had also joined the party.

Meanwhile, Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow also rubbished any plan on the part of party members to hold an EGM to seek Koh’s removal.

“If there are such things, I would be the first to know. I can tell you there’s no such thing, it’s just that somebody was making up the stories,” he added.

- Bernama