KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 – Suspended Gerakan vice president Huan Cheng Guan believes he can swing supporters in Penang on to his side against Penang chairman Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan in a bid to overturn his three-year ban.
He spent this week organising a dinner in his stronghold of Seberang Prai where 1,200 supporters turned up last night and several division leaders condemned the suspension.
Huan told The Malaysian Insider he would soon send a letter to the top leadership demanding they explain the suspension.
But Dr Teng has also initiated a signature drive, asking members to sign a memorandum calling for the suspension to be upheld or for Huan to be sacked for his continued attacks on the party leadership.
Huan told The Malaysian Insider that last night’s show of support indicated grassroots support for his criticism of Dr Teng over the appointment of coordinators for parliamentary and state seats traditionally contested by Gerakan.
“If four out of seven Seberang Prai divisions call on you to step down, then your position as Penang chairman is untenable,” he said.
Bukit Mertajam division chief Tan Kim Seah, one of those who spoke at the dinner last night, explained that the call for Dr Teng to step down was over the harshness of the suspension which “reflected double standards in the party.”
He said that while Huan had made a mistake, Dr Teng and other Gerakan leaders were guilty of damaging the party even more than Huan for their constant lobbying for the chief minister’s post before last year’s general election.
“The fierce fighting caused repercussions and the downfall of Gerakan in Penang because we appeared to believe that the CM post was the right of Gerakan.
“If Huan is suspended for three years, then Dr Teng should face stiffer punishment,” he told The Malaysian Insider, adding that the signature campaign was also unbecoming of the state chief.
However, Tan hopes that Huan would make a formal appeal against the suspension and remain loyal to the party now that members have expressed their unhappiness over his suspension.
Last month, the party’s central working committee (CWC), which is made up of only the top leadership, decided on the disciplinary action, which secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow said should have been harsher due to the “severe nature of his misbehaviour” in threatening to quit the party and criticising the party leadership.
But Huan has insisted that the absence of a proper hearing meant that the decision was unconstitutional and therefore the former Batu Kawan MP has refused to appeal to the central committee, which is made up of 23 other committee members besides the CWC.
The length of the suspension means he cannot contest the next party polls scheduled for 2011, effectively eradicating his influence in the medium term.
Huan’s criticism of Dr Teng and threats to quit led to him being served a show-cause letter.
Several branch and division leaders have also threatened to leave the party should Huan decide to do so. Branch and division leaders from the mainland of Penang have claimed that 1,000 members would follow him.
Huan decided to stay with Gerakan and apologised for his remarks, adding that he would accept the decision of the top leadership, even if it decided to give him the sack.
But now he is fighting the suspension and claims that party president Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon had promised him only a six-month suspension, which was denied by the latter.
Huan, who works in Parliament as a special officer in the Barisan Nasional backbenchers’ club, was the only top leader elected in party polls last year not aligned to Koh.
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