Gerakan acting president Dr Koh Tsu Koon appeared to pour cold water on a proposal by the party's Youth wing for all 14 component parties in the Barisan Nasional to merge into one.

Although describing it as a "good proposal", Koh, who made a similar proposal when he was Gerakan Youth chief in 1983, said such a move would take a long time to materialise.

"We (BN parties) have been acting as one party, we refer to ourselves as the BN government," he said in his 40-minute opening speech at the Gerakan Youth and Wanita national delegates conference held at the party's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

The conference was attended by 593 Youth delegates and 470 Wanita delegates.

Koh also stressed on the need for greater cooperation among BN members. "We should not just work together during the general election," he said.

The 'one party' suggestion was made by Youth chief Mah Siew Keong in his speech earlier.

Mah said he did not consult the top leaders on the proposal, which, according to him, was aimed at achieving national unity.

Among the VIPs present at the conference were Umno Youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein, his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin, Puteri Umno chief Noraini Ahmad, MCA Youth chief Liow Tiong Lai, MIC Youth chief S Vigneswaran and other BN Youth leaders.

Strong ties

At a press conference later, Koh said there were numerous problems with all BN component parties merging into a single entity.

"For instance, who will become the division chief? Let's work within the (current) BN framework, building up confidence and capability," he told reporters.

Koh, who is also Penang chief minister, sidestepped a question from a Chinese daily reporter who asked him how long would it take for such a merger to become a reality.

"When you first fall in love, you don't set a time-frame to get married. Are you married?" he asked the reporter.

When the reporter responded that he was single, Koh laughed and quipped: "That's why... It took the US for 200 years for racial integration."

The Gerakan leader said BN leaders shared strong personal relationships with one another.

"For example, I sent a SMS to Khairy to congratulate him on becoming a father and an expert in diapers," he added while looking at the Umno Youth vice-chief who is married to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's daughter, Nori.

Hishammuddin, when asked on his stand on the 'one party' proposal, merely said that BN was moving forward.

"This is a matter that requires sincerity, commitment, political will and (there is) no shortcuts. There are ups and downs in BN at times, but (eventually) we still can sit together.

"We have to move forward and build on," he said.

Power failure

Koh's speech earlier was disrupted by a five-minute power failure. This prompted the acting president to remark, "I hope this is not a sabotage".

He was then given a loudhailer to address the conference. " Ini macam pilihanraya, pilihanraya dah sampai dah (this is like the general election, the elections is here)," he quipped.

Koh's bad luck continued from yesterday, when his chair broke during a press conference.

The three-day conference kicked off today with its Youth and Women wings' meetings held simultaneously. The main body will meet over the next two days.

The prime minister is slated to officiate the main body's meet tomorrow.

Watch the six-minute video here.