PETALING JAYA: Gerakan central committee member Senator A. Kohilan Pillay will go for the party’s Selangor chairman post in the state party elections, the first non-Chinese in the party's history to contest the post.
In making the announcement yesterday, state party vice-chairman Datuk Dr Lim Thuang Seng dismissed speculation that he was going for the position.
“We discussed this decision at length and felt that Gerakan needed a new image, one that portrays the party’s multi-racial stand.
“This is why we proposed (Senator) Kohilan as a candidate for the top post in the state elections on Sept 7,” he told a press conference at his service centre here yesterday.
The incumbent is Datuk Lum Weng Keong, who has yet to say if he will defend his post.
My nomination is also part of the party’s move to bring in young leaders and to stimulate change... SENATOR A. KOHILAN PILLAY Besides Dr Lim, Kohilan’s decision to contest has also received full backing from several top leaders at national level such as central committee member Datuk Gooi Hoe Hin and party treasurer-general Lim Keng Guan.
Dr Lim stressed that Kohilan, a party member for more than 20 years and the Deputy Plantations Industries and Commodities Minister, had the ability and leadership qualities to fill the post.
He said his nomination was meant to send a message to party members that Gerakan was committed to a multi-racial concept, and that a candidate’s racial background should not matter so long as he upheld the party’s ideology.
Dr Lim hoped that Kohilan’s nomination would continue to strengthen the party.
Asked if he foresaw challenges, Kohilan replied: “We have met with a majority of the members and delegates of the 19 divisions in Selangor and the response has been convincing. I don’t see problems or challenges.
“My decision (to contest) has been prompted also by the full support of division and branch leaders,” he said.
He said his nomination was also part of the party’s move to bring in young leaders and to stimulate change.
