Following Penang Gerakan and MCA's dismal performance in the 2008 general election, then state Umno liason committee chief Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had requested that the BN state chief come from his party.

Ahmad Zahid's rationale was based on Umno winning 11 out of 15 state seats while its partners in BN, Gerakan, MCA, and MIC, won none.

But current state Umno liason chief Zainal Abidin Osman said the request had just been a "one-off" statement by his party leader.

NONE "It was Gerakan which felt it lacked the confidence to face DAP, after the latter took over Penang in 2008," said Zainal in an interview with the media yesterday.

Zainal ( right ), a former Nibong Tebal MP, said Umno merely expressed its view on how the coalition had to be strong in the battle to recapture Penang.

"If we do not have the confidence, there would be no meaning for us to join the battle. So we said, if Gerakan was no longer capable of leading, then Umno can take charge," he said.

Zainal, current advisor to the  rural and regional development ministry since 2008 , said Ahmad Zahid, wanted to remind Gerakan of its role.

"Since they were weak (at that time), we needed to give them a boost (by giving them a reminder). That is what actually happened in 2008," said the former deputy minister of the rural development ministry (2006-2008).

On the possibility of the CM seat being handed over to Umno since the party was the only one with winnable candidates, Zainal said "nothing will change" the decision that the BN made to keep the place for Gerakan.

"It was our promise as we have an understanding between the coalition parties since 1974, when BN was formed," said the former foreign affairs parliamentary secretary (2004-2006).

"This was when we decided that the Penang BN seat will remain with Gerakan. We will continue to respect that decision."

Non-Malay majority

Unlike Pakatan, Zainal said he was certain that if DAP were the only party which won seats in the general election, the leadership post of the coalition would be handed to it, and not PAS or PKR.

However, in BN, component party members were willing to accept "reality" and honour its pledge to keep Gerakan as head of the coalition as the state had a majority of non-Malay voters.

"We accept it, no matter how many seats we win, the chairman of Penang BN will always be from a non-Umno party," he said.

The component parties in BN can stay together after all these years, said Zainal, because they had similar understanding of issues, similar plans and dreams.

"We speak in the same voice and tone whether we speak to a Malay, Chinese of Indian crowd," he added.