GERAKAN is in the Tanjung Piai race not necessarily to win, but to prepare for the 15th general election, said president Dominic Lau.

After quitting Barisan Nasional following last year’s elections, he said, the party needs to assess its strengths and weaknesses, and ensure that “people don’t forget” it.

“Gerakan cannot wait till GE15 to contest. The Tg Piai by-election will help us identify problems. This is one of the reasons why we decided to run,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

The party is fielding deputy secretary-general Wendy Subramaniam, 38, in the November 16 polls.

Gerakan, which joined BN in the early 1970s, left the coalition in June last year after losing all 11 parliamentary seats it contested in GE14.

Lau described the party’s departure from BN as a journey to “refresh” itself and prepare for the next elections.

“Since Gerakan has decided to stand in the (Tg Piai) by-election, we must go all out.

“Everyone wants to win on the battlefield. If we lose, it will be taken as an experience. The ultimate goal is GE15.”

The Tg Piai contest will allow Gerakan to gauge its readiness for GE15, and evaluate its leadership’s performance and the party’s operations.

Equally important is to keep the party, which has been lying low since its BN exit, in the public eye.

“There have been eight by-elections (since GE14), but Gerakan was absent… We are really worried that the people will forget the party,” said Lau.

“In the end, the central committee decided to go for the Tg Piai by-election.”

Lau was elected president in party polls last November. Shortly after his win, he vowed to restructure and strengthen Gerakan.

“(Tg Piai) will be a litmus test. We were not ready for the first eight by-elections, but we are ready for the ninth one,” he said.

Gerakan as ‘third force’

Lau said Gerakan will position itself as the “third force” to appeal to voters who do not support either Pakatan Harapan or BN.

BN lynchpin Umno’s political pact with the Islamist PAS is a cause for concern as it could fuel racial and religious sentiments, he added.

On PH, he said people are growing dissatisfied with the ruling pact for failing to fulfil its election pledges.

Lau said to maximise its resources, Gerakan will hold its annual congress in Johor a week before Tg Piai’s polling day.

He urged delegates to stay on after the November 9 meet and campaign for Wendy.

PH’s Karmaine Sardini, who is Tg Piai Bersatu chief, and BN’s Wee Jeck Seng, of MCA, are the main contenders in the six-way fight. Besides Wendy, the other candidates are Barisan Jemaah Islamiah SeMalaysia president Dr Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, and independents Ang Chuan Lock and Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar.

Nominations were filed yesterday, marking the start of the 14-day campaign period.

The Tg Piai seat was declared vacant after Dr Md Farid Md Rafik, of Bersatu, died in September of heart complications. He had won the constituency in GE14 with a 524-vote majority, beating two-term MP Wee and a PAS candidate. – November 3, 2019.