WHEN Gerakan pulled out of Barisan Nasional (BN) on June 23, 2018 after the 14th general election, there was a glimmer of hope that perhaps the long-marginalised component party finally realised it had been heading in the wrong direction all this time. It was completely wiped out in the past election, losing the only seat it had left in Parliament.

For the next 22 months, it stayed as an independent party in the opposition bloc, keeping a relatively low-key profile for the most part, hardly rippling any waters. Then on February 25, 2020, Gerakan declared that the party gave Dr Mahathir Mohamad undivided support to be reappointed as the nation’s prime minister.

The day before that on February 24, when party president Dominic Lau was asked by reporters if Gerakan would consider rejoining BN, he had said, “No, we have left BN.”

Fast forward to May 15, Lau announced at a press conference that his party fully supports Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s leadership. When asked if his party will join Perikatan Nasional (PN), he gave a cryptic reply.

So here’s the question, if Gerakan truly has no intention to return to BN or its equivalent ever again, why even bother supporting a prime minister from that coalition? What is the difference really, supporting PN as a component party or from the sidelines as an “independent” party? Why the vagueness and avoidance? Why not just be upfront about where it truly stands on the political spectrum?

While it is worth pointing out that one of Gerakan’s core tenets is political stability ie. just floating along with whatever the status quo is, that isn’t its only core ideology.

Gerakan also prides itself on putting the people first, and has stated that it would support anyone who has the public’s interest at heart and who shares its ideologies. Any party or coalition that truly puts the people first would also honour and respect the people’s mandate, especially when it was unanimous at the ballot box. There would certainly be no attempt to seize power from a rightful government, especially not right in the middle of a global pandemic.

Yet, are all these things not what PN has done? Is any of this putting the people first or looking out for them? As for common ideologies, Gerakan claims that it is committed to human rights, freedom, justice and equality, and advancing the role of women in society. Most significantly, it rejects money politics, cronyism, and corruption.

However, post-Sheraton, Muhyiddin’s government has been busy cracking down on free speech and silencing critics, buying support by appointing most of its MPs to GLC positions, while its cabinet has shockingly negligible female representation.

Things are no different than when BN was in power, just much worse now. So this is exactly what Gerakan supports – a government that puts its people last, treats women as second-class citizens, strangles democratic liberties, and lusts after power and position above all else.

Therefore, it is undeniable that the Gerakan leadership is merely opportunistic and prioritises its own political survival at the expense of its own principles. While Muhyiddin’s Bersatu faction and Azmin’s PKR faction have betrayed their allies in Pakatan Harapan and millions of Malaysian voters, Gerakan has sadly betrayed itself.

What makes it even more tragic is that the party previously explicitly opposed the idea of a back-door government. Lau criticised suggestions that PAS form such a government in a statement on November 25, 2019, saying that any change of government had to be democratic or via an election. If not, there would be violence and Malaysia’s democracy would suffer “irreparable harm”. Those words ring hollow now. – May 25, 2020.

* Lara Ling reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.