GE16: Gerakan opens 'war room' to prepare for polls

JOHOR BAHRU - Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan) will begin initial work to identify potential seats to be won in the 16th General Election (GE16) and the upcoming state election.

Its president, Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai said that this step needs to be taken to restore the mindset of the non-Malay community that has been allegedly misled by Pakatan Harapan (PH).

"This step is also taken to attract and strengthen the support of the non-Malay community, especially the Chinese, for Perikatan Nasional (PN).

"We have established a special committee to carry out preliminary work in preparation for the upcoming general election and state elections. This includes the opening of a 'war room,' which is usually only done after the Parliament is dissolved," he said.

Dominic, Deputy Chairman of Perikatan Nasional (PN) said this during a press conference at the Johor Gerakan Party Headquarters in Skudai earlier today.

Also present were the Deputy President, Oh Tong Keong, and the Vice President, Koo Shiaw Lee.

He said that among the objectives of establishing the special committee is to identify target seats that Gerakan candidates can win.

"In addition to the incumbent chair, we will also consider mixed seats and seats with narrow margins of victory.

“This means that for seats where our candidates lost with a low majority of around 1,000 votes, we will improve our services and strengthen our machinery there.

"As for seats where we lost by a large majority, they will not be our focus seats," he said.

In addition, Dominic noted that they are confident that the support of the non-Malay community for PN, especially Gerakan is increasing after several previous election series.

Therefore, he said Gerakan will strengthen communication and outreach with the non-Malay community.

“This step is important to cleanse the mindset of the non-Malay community that has long been 'brainwashed' by DAP all this while.

“They fear that if PN governs, they won't be able to drink alcohol or eat pork anymore, but all of that is not true. There are no such restrictions even in Kelantan and Terengganu," he said.

In another development, he announced that Gerakan now has 300,000 registered members in 174 divisions and 1,818 branches nationwide.