Clear signs 1MDB Najib to call for a snap GE14
Why are Penang Gerakan leaders squabbling over control of the party leadership?
Is it because they have inside information that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak has quietly started preparing for a snap 14th General Election (GE14)? GE14 is only due in March 2018.
Gerakan, a BN component party, had administered Penang from 1969 to 2008 when Penangites dumped them for DAP and PKR in GE12.
In both GE12 and GE13, only Umno managed to win a few seats. All other BN parties (Gerakan, MCA and MIC) were totally rejected by Penang voters, failing to win a single seat.
Online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) in an Aug 19, 2016, report claimed that Umno is set to take over the Penang BN chairmanship from Gerakan following the apparent poor performance as the Opposition in the DAP-led state, coupled with poor results in past elections.
The report quoted an unnamed senior Gerakan central working committee member as saying Umno, which won 10 state seats in Penang, has stepped up to the plate, feeling confident that it can do a better job in reducing the DAP majority in the next polls.
The Gerakan leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, said a “Penang Umno politician and a federal minister” had been tipped to be state BN chairman.
“A senior Umno politician from Penang has suggested the minister’s name to the prime minister as he is the one who appoints the state BN chairman.
“The move can be seen as a snub to Gerakan, which has been caught up in internal bickering for the past three years, rather than acting as a useful check-and-balance to the government,” the source told FMT.
The bickering and Umno’s ambition to helm the state is of no significance to the predominantly Chinese electorate state.
In fact, with Umno taking over the chairmanship, it will even further worsen whatever little Chinese support that BN secured in GE14.
It is not the first time local Umno leaders are lobbying for leadership of the state which comes with the coveted seat of the Chief Minister should BN win in the state in GE14.
It is highly unlikely that BN chairman Najib will want to risk the wrath and backlash of the Chinese voters.
So, Gerakan’s washing of dirty linen by its leaders is, logically, all about control of the state party and seat allocations for GE14, nothing more or less than that.
This was clearly “exposed” by Gerakan’s Deputy Secretary-General Dr Thor Teong Gee when he announced his resignation from all party posts, after attacks on his character by his party colleagues in Penang in a vernacular daily.
The media quoted Thor on Aug 18, 2016, as saying to the effect:
"I tender my resignation as Gerakan deputy secretary-general, central committee member and Penang Gerakan committee member.
"I am resigning because Penang Gerakan Vice-Chairman I Oh Tong Keong has personally attacked me in the Chinese newspapers.
"Oh had told the Gerakan Central Working Committee on July 20 (2016) that I wanted to contest the Sungai Pinang state seat (The seat was previously contested by Thor).
"Given the fact that he (Oh) was the acting state chairman and in party interest, I did not mind sitting out of the election.
"I also vowed to assist whoever the Gerakan candidate is for Sungai Pinang. I have been a candidate for the seat twice and failed both times, I have no interest in it anymore.
"Despite all this, he chose to attack me. I am disappointed and hurt."
In fact, rumblings were already felt last May with FMT reporting that the Team A vs Team B issue (in Penang Gerakan) might have reached its boiling point.
But BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow denied the existence of any feuding camps.
The April 30, 2016, FMT report, titled "Penang Gerakan in self-destruct mode?" quoted a party insider as saying Teng’s rumoured departure was “just the tip of the iceberg”
However, eyebrows were raised soon after, with Teng going on "sabbatical" a few months ago.
The feuding then deteriorated with Penang Gerakan Wanita Chief Rowena Yam and a few other key leaders resigning from their posts in the party.
In response, Teng denied all the rumours by the insider, calling him an "idiot" out to create a wedge between him and others in his party.
Who is this “idiot”? Why “him”, why not she?
Apparently the media reports on party bickering could also have been “planted” with feedback from an outsider with his own agenda, and Teng knows it.
What is brewing between Gerakan and Umno in Penang is generally of no interest to Penangites, especially the Chinese community, because their sentiments are still with the Opposition.
What is interesting from the feuding is the possibility that it is reaching boiling point as names of candidates for GE14 need to be submitted to the BN chairman, 1MDB Najib, for endorsement.
This means it is lobbying time for those who want to be BN candidates in GE14.
Is it because they have inside information that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) Prime Minister Najib Razak has quietly started preparing for a snap 14th General Election (GE14)? GE14 is only due in March 2018.
Gerakan, a BN component party, had administered Penang from 1969 to 2008 when Penangites dumped them for DAP and PKR in GE12.
In both GE12 and GE13, only Umno managed to win a few seats. All other BN parties (Gerakan, MCA and MIC) were totally rejected by Penang voters, failing to win a single seat.
Online news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT) in an Aug 19, 2016, report claimed that Umno is set to take over the Penang BN chairmanship from Gerakan following the apparent poor performance as the Opposition in the DAP-led state, coupled with poor results in past elections.
The report quoted an unnamed senior Gerakan central working committee member as saying Umno, which won 10 state seats in Penang, has stepped up to the plate, feeling confident that it can do a better job in reducing the DAP majority in the next polls.
The Gerakan leader, who wanted to remain anonymous, said a “Penang Umno politician and a federal minister” had been tipped to be state BN chairman.
“A senior Umno politician from Penang has suggested the minister’s name to the prime minister as he is the one who appoints the state BN chairman.
“The move can be seen as a snub to Gerakan, which has been caught up in internal bickering for the past three years, rather than acting as a useful check-and-balance to the government,” the source told FMT.
The bickering and Umno’s ambition to helm the state is of no significance to the predominantly Chinese electorate state.
In fact, with Umno taking over the chairmanship, it will even further worsen whatever little Chinese support that BN secured in GE14.
It is not the first time local Umno leaders are lobbying for leadership of the state which comes with the coveted seat of the Chief Minister should BN win in the state in GE14.
It is highly unlikely that BN chairman Najib will want to risk the wrath and backlash of the Chinese voters.
So, Gerakan’s washing of dirty linen by its leaders is, logically, all about control of the state party and seat allocations for GE14, nothing more or less than that.
This was clearly “exposed” by Gerakan’s Deputy Secretary-General Dr Thor Teong Gee when he announced his resignation from all party posts, after attacks on his character by his party colleagues in Penang in a vernacular daily.
The media quoted Thor on Aug 18, 2016, as saying to the effect:
"I tender my resignation as Gerakan deputy secretary-general, central committee member and Penang Gerakan committee member.
"I am resigning because Penang Gerakan Vice-Chairman I Oh Tong Keong has personally attacked me in the Chinese newspapers.
"Oh had told the Gerakan Central Working Committee on July 20 (2016) that I wanted to contest the Sungai Pinang state seat (The seat was previously contested by Thor).
"Given the fact that he (Oh) was the acting state chairman and in party interest, I did not mind sitting out of the election.
"I also vowed to assist whoever the Gerakan candidate is for Sungai Pinang. I have been a candidate for the seat twice and failed both times, I have no interest in it anymore.
"Despite all this, he chose to attack me. I am disappointed and hurt."
In fact, rumblings were already felt last May with FMT reporting that the Team A vs Team B issue (in Penang Gerakan) might have reached its boiling point.
But BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow denied the existence of any feuding camps.
The April 30, 2016, FMT report, titled "Penang Gerakan in self-destruct mode?" quoted a party insider as saying Teng’s rumoured departure was “just the tip of the iceberg”
However, eyebrows were raised soon after, with Teng going on "sabbatical" a few months ago.
The feuding then deteriorated with Penang Gerakan Wanita Chief Rowena Yam and a few other key leaders resigning from their posts in the party.
In response, Teng denied all the rumours by the insider, calling him an "idiot" out to create a wedge between him and others in his party.
Who is this “idiot”? Why “him”, why not she?
Apparently the media reports on party bickering could also have been “planted” with feedback from an outsider with his own agenda, and Teng knows it.
What is brewing between Gerakan and Umno in Penang is generally of no interest to Penangites, especially the Chinese community, because their sentiments are still with the Opposition.
What is interesting from the feuding is the possibility that it is reaching boiling point as names of candidates for GE14 need to be submitted to the BN chairman, 1MDB Najib, for endorsement.
This means it is lobbying time for those who want to be BN candidates in GE14.
And, with the Opposition unity in tatters following the jailing of Anwar Ibrahim and the pro-Umno Hadi Awang-led PAS out of Pakatan Harapan (comprising DAP, PKR and Amanah), the question is:
How much political damage will be inflicted on the Penang Pakatan government in GE14? (Read these for context: http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/08/1mdb-najib-led-umno-to-rule-malaysia.html and http://victorlim2016.blogspot.my/2016/08/1mdb-najib-to-lead-bn-to-win-big-in-ge14.html)
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