GEORGE TOWN, Aug 18 — Gerakan deputy secretary-general Dr Thor Teong Gee has resigned over infighting for a coordinator post and possible candidacy in the general elections.
The Penang Gerakan leader, who has been in the Barisan Nasional (BN) party for over 16 years, expressed his disappointment over the frequent infighting for candidacy between fellow party members.
“I am so disappointed and hurt by the recent attacks against me in the media by Oh Tong Keong so it is best that I resign from all party posts,” he said in a press conference today.
He resigned as deputy secretary-general and from his other posts in the party, but remains a Gerakan member.
Dr Thor said internal party issues should not be brought out in public but he was “forced to defend himself” against attacks.
“This is not the first time I was attacked. It has happened twice before so enough is enough, I think there is no point for me to spend time dealing with these people,” he said.
Dr Thor, who was formerly a Penang Island Municipal councillor, had previously contested for the Jelutong parliamentary seat in 2008 and for the Sungai Pinang state seat in 2013, but lost both times.
“I’ve been a candidate twice and I’ve failed both times, so I don’t have interest to be a candidate anymore and I will willingly support whoever wants to be the candidate for Sungai Pinang. There is no need to smear my name in the media to get me out of the way,” he said.
He accused the Penang Gerakan first vice chairman Oh Tong Keong of coveting the Sungai Pinang coordinator post and claimed that when Oh got the post, he had continued to attack him in the media.
“The party leaders and members should focus on being the voice of the people and strengthen the party against our political opponents instead of attacking their fellow comrades for their own selfish political desires,” he said.
He added that it is common for members and leaders to fight over the coordinator posts that will eventually lead to candidacy for the next general elections.
Gerakan has coordinators in 13 state seats and four parliamentary seats in Penang, but the party failed to win any of the seats in the past two general elections.
When contacted, Oh denied attacking Dr Thor but explained he had merely repeated what the Jelutong division had said about Dr Thor when deliberating on a list of 13 names for the Sungai Pinang coordinator post.
“My name was not in the list, Dr Thor’s name was not in the list and Teng Chang Yeow’s name was not in the list,” he said.
He said the points he raised in the media, about Dr Thor’s frequent absenteeism from division meetings and during the nomination of the coordinator, were points raised by the Jelutong division.
“It wasn’t me, it was the division and I am only explaining what the division felt and why they did not nominate Dr Thor as the Sungai Pinang coordinator,” he said.
Oh is expected to give a press conference with full explanations of what transpired in response to Dr Thor’s accusations tomorrow.
Gerakan, under BNl, had held all 13 state seats prior to 2008, and had helmed the state administration with Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon as the chief minister.
The party lost all its seats in 2008 when DAP, under the then Pakatan Rakyat pact, took over the state administration.
