Gerakan vice-president Dominic Lau today announced that he will contest the post of the party president to consolidate the party and lead it through difficult times.

This move follows the resignation of Mah Siew Keong from the post in September after the party’s dismal performance during the 14th general election on May 9, in which it failed to win any seats.

Lau said he decided to contest after receiving encouragement from the grassroots, party veterans, NGOs and the Chinese community.

“The next party president will need to shoulder heavy responsibilities, as he will have to lead the party to go through the most difficult time. If one isn’t mentally prepared to sacrifice, he won’t be able to do it well.”

“If I am elected, I will become a full-time chairman who will handle party affairs,” he said at the press conference at the party headquarters this morning.

He acknowledged Gerakan’s failures in the past three elections but he stressed that the party should identify its weaknesses and reasons for its failure and, not give up fighting.

When asked if he was expecting any competition, he said so far there wasn’t any but that he encouraged capable leaders to step up and compete in the party election.

He stressed that his priority is to consolidate the party by improving members’ sense of belonging and their political consciousness.

Lau had announced the party’s decision to leave Barisan Nasional on June 23, making Gerakan an independent political party.

When asked about the possibility of Gerakan joining a new coalition, Lau reiterated that consolidating the party was his priority.

“We don’t know what will happen in the future. If we want to collaborate with other political parties, the first thing that they will ask is ‘Why should we work with you?’ Then, the question will come back to us as to whether we are strong enough.

“So, that’s why forming any coalition to me is secondary, it is not important at this moment. We don’t know what will happen in these five years.”

He also mentioned that Gerakan has always upheld a policy of multi-ethnicity with an emphasis on racial equality, however it could not be fully implemented previously due to restrictions under BN.

“But now, Gerakan has taken a big step forward. We have left BN and become an independent political party. We can build a political platform that belongs to us completely, and spread our ideology and values.”

He said that as Gerakan is a multi-racial party, he aimed to increase the proportion of non-Chinese party members to 30 percent but admitted that he is not sure what the party's current racial proportion of members is.

Gerakan allegedly received 1MDB-related funding during the 13th general election.

When asked if he will clear the party’s name or return the alleged funds, Lau answered that he hopes that the new leadership will no longer have to shoulder the baggage of the BN government.

“I believe that our members are now proud that we are an independent party. We will focus on listening to the grassroots and move forward.

“I hope that the new leadership line-up will be no longer have to deal with baggage from the previous government,” added Lau.

The party’s branch, division, and state-level elections were completed on June 22, Aug 3 and Sept 14 respectively.

Nominations for the party’s national-level election are slated for Nov 10.

According to Lau, 300,000 party members in 12 states, 150 divisions, and 1,859 branches will cast their votes during the national-level election on Nov 17.