Gerakan will leave Barisan Nasional if it cannot play a "meaningful role" within the coalition, said acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.The party is now reviewing its role in Barisan, he said, just a day after he had declared Gerakan had no intention of quitting the coalition.
But that declaration had been tempered with the caution that Barisan must change to cope with the political reality and move away from race-based politics.
Dr Koh said it was only right for the party to question its role in the coalition.
He said a "meaningful role" meant having mutual respect, sharing ideas and consulting on major programmes and policies.
"We will remain in Barisan Nasional only in the context that we have a meaningful role to play.
"It's not unconditional, as was reported by one press, that Gerakan will always remain in Barisan, as if it were irrespective of whether we have a role (to play) or not.
Asked if this meant there was a possibility that Gerakan would leave the coalition, Dr Koh said:
"I don't know what else can I say. You want to write it like that, you go ahead."
He also reiterated that Gerakan was not a "yes-man" in the coalition but it would also not leave merely because another component party’s member attacked them.
He said Gerakan would not act emotionally and the party would look at the overall picture, such as what the party could do for the people, for unity and for the economy.
Asked if Gerakan was happy with its current role in the coalition, Dr Koh said it was not happy, but it was also not unhappy enough to leave.
He said the party would not take too long to review its role but neither would it give itself a tight deadline.
"We are discussing the time frame now -- as I said, it has to be reasonable," he said.
He noted that Gerakan was a founding partner of Barisan and would not just leave because it was upset with some things.
Dr Koh had also earlier warned that Barisan may reach a “point of no return” if racist remarks and anti-social behaviour continued to tarnish its image, implicitly referring to Umno Bukit Bendera division chairman Datuk Ahmad Ismail’s alleged racist statements.
Ahmad was reported to have described Malaysian-Chinese as immigrants and squatters. He has denied the reports, saying journalists had quoted him out of context.
He has also refused to apologise for the alleged remarks, citing support from the 13 Umno divisions in Penang, and demanded that Dr Koh and Chinese community leaders apologise to him for asking him to express regret.
Ahmad also said that he was sure MCA would garner unanimous support from the Chinese if Gerakan broke away from Barisan, which saw Dr Koh accusing him of "trying to drive a wedge" between Gerakan and MCA.
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