GERAKAN presidential-aspirant Dominic Lau has not closed the door on working with other parties in the future, including a rebranded Barisan Nasional but, for now, his only aim is to unite the party.

Lau, the current vice-president, said the party could not run away from the reality of politics and at some point, must look at working with other parties in the present political landscape.

But this is later, as Lau homes in on a simple message: “let’s be united”.

“If Gerakan is to rise again then all members must unite, all members must be on the same page. That’s why I think the most important thing right now is to unite and strengthen the party. Then only we can explore our options in terms of alliances,” Lau told The Malaysian Insight.

“But it is also important that the party which we choose to align ourselves with must have compatible principles.”

Lau faces deputy youth chief Andy Yong for the president’s post in the party polls on Saturday.

Barely two months after the 14th general election, Gerakan said it was leaving the BN coalition of which it was a founder member in 1974.

Gerakan contested 11 parliamentary and 31 state seats in GE14 and won none.

If he captures the president’s post, Lau said the party would work towards restoring local elections, giving the third vote back to the people.

“We will continue pushing for local elections and raise awareness among the people by holding talks or forums to prepare them for the polls,” Lau said.

He said with Gerakan no longer in BN, it could now champion policies beneficial to the public.

“As an independent party, Gerakan has the responsibility of keeping the government in check, but the difference between Gerakan and other parties is that we will also provide solutions.”

The former candidate for the Batu parliamentary seat also wanted to reel in the youth and introduce policies attractive to them.

With the move to lower the voting age to 18, youth can prove valuable to the party’s future, he said.

“Being a political organisation, Gerakan needs to encourage more youth to participate in the political process. We will use the various media platforms to educate youth politically.” – November 15, 2018.