The call for Malacca Gerakan election candidates to contest under their own party flag is gaining strength.

The deputy head of the national Youth central working committee has voiced support for Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow’s proposal.

penang gerakan egm 101010 teng chang yeow In a statement today, David Ang said all Malacca Gerakan members should support Teng’s ( right ) call to contest under the party flag in the coming election.

This should not only apply to the Bachang division but “all other areas” in Malacca where the party feels its candidates have a chance of winning, said Ang.

Telling BN leaders not to “push Gerakan to the edge”, Ang said the party “will fight back with dignity”.

“We will not be a punching bag of Umno  and we will no longer keep quiet when you shout. Gerakan is now 43 years old and we are old enough and experienced enough to decide our own destiny and direction. We do not need Umno or any other party to tell us where we should contest.

“We will decide where we should contest and we will let them know when (the) time is right,” Ang added in his tersely-worded statement.

He was responding to remarks by Umno supreme council member Mohd Ali Rustam that the state BN would field a "winnable candidate" from either Umno or MCA - instead of Gerakan - for the Bachang state constituency in the next general election.

ali rustam Gerakan has been contesting the seat since 1995, but its candidate Wendy Ngo Kim Hwa lost to DAP’s Lim Jak Wong in the March 2008 election.

“At this point of time, we have a strong feeling that the winnable candidate would come either from Umno or MCA, and not Gerakan, which has been contesting the seat from 1995.

"We need a candidate who is able to secure the votes and win in Bachang. This would not only make work easier for us, but a victory is also assured," Ali was quoted as saying.

If Gerakan had no winnable candidate for Bachang, he added, then it would be better for Umno to contest in its place.

“If I am given an option, my first choice is that the candidate comes from Umno, followed by MCA and maybe then, Gerakan.”

Teng, in an open letter to party members in Malacca, urged them to be "mentally prepared" to contest the Bachang seat under the party's symbol.

"I want (Malacca) Gerakan to be mentally prepared to contest the Bachang seat on our own party symbol, if the state BN chair defies the coalition spirit," the New Straits Times quoted him as saying in the Sept 3 letter.

In today's statement, Ang said he would even propose to the party’s central committee and president Koh Tsu Koon as to where Gerakan Youth felt its candidates have good chances of winning in the next general election.