PETALING JAYA: A Bersatu leader has criticised Gerakan president Datuk Dr Dominic Lau over his statement on Malay voting trends in the recent Mahkota by-election in Johor.
Bersatu Federal Territories secretary Dr Mahathir Mohd Rais said Gerakan had been on the decline for over a decade and was not in any position to criticise its Perikatan Nasional partners.
“Does Gerakan even have credibility to speak on Malay voting trends when it struggles to maintain relevance in any voter demographic?” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Oct 1).
He was commenting on Lau’s statement expressing concern over the Malay voter shift towards Barisan Nasional in the election for the state seat and called for Perikatan to conduct a review.
“Lau’s call for Perikatan to review the Malay vote is curious, given that Gerakan has done little to contribute to the coalition’s success.
“The party holds no parliamentary seats and has not made any significant electoral breakthroughs since its fall from grace,” he said.
Mahathir said voting behaviours differ across regions and constituencies, influenced by local issues, candidate strength and state government control.
“If Gerakan wants to be taken seriously, it needs to do the hard work of reconnecting with voters rather than merely issuing statements from the political periphery,” he added.
On Monday (Sept 30), Lau had called on Perikatan to review the loss of Malay votes to Barisan in the recent Nenggiri and Mahkota by-elections.
He said it was necessary as Perikatan was likely to face the combined strength of Barisan and Pakatan Harapan, who appeared to have largely put aside their differences in GE16.
It was also reported on Sunday (Sept 29) that Melaka Gerakan had called for the party to review its partnership in Perikatan.
Its state chairman, Datuk Seri Micheal Gan Peng Lam, said he was voicing grassroots concerns.
“We can only be a strong coalition if all parties within Perikatan are accorded the same status and due respect,” he said at the Melaka Gerakan annual general meeting.
In response, Lau said he would raise the issue during the next high-level meeting with Perikatan’s top leadership.
Gerakan saw its best election results in the 2004 General Election, winning 10 parliamentary seats and 30 state seats.
However, it lost all but two parliamentary seats in GE12 in 2008 and also lost control of Penang, which it had governed for nearly 39 years.
In GE14, it failed to win a single parliamentary or state seat and had no representation in the Dewan Rakyat for the first time.
It left Barisan in 2018 and joined Perikatan in 2021, winning one state seat in last year’s Kedah elections.
