KUALA LUMPUR: Despite promises to make Gerakan more multiracial, a racial quota will not be imposed on the composition of its leadership, party president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said yesterday.

Although there were only three Indian members in the leadership lineup, he said this was a step forward.

The three Indians are vice-president Dr S. Vijayaratnam, central committee members Senator A. Kohilan Pillay and Jayanthi Devi Balaguru. The remaining 21 leaders are Chinese.

Many members were expecting a more multiracial leadership this year, after prompting from the grassroots.

Speaking at the opening of the Gerakan national delegates conference on Saturday, Koh had promised members that the party would go back to basics and be an outspoken and multiracial party.
Yesterday, at the end of the conference, he said, the party was even more committed to achieving a multiracial representation, especially in the upper echelon of its leadership, but the democratic process would prevail and a quota system would not be introduced to make Gerakan more multiracial.

"We want people to be elected to the leadership on the basis of their merit and commitment to the party's ideology and not for the colour of their skin.

"Rather than looking at it from the position of a racial quota, we want to encourage more participation from members of every ethnic background so that they will be voted in because they are Malaysians with a commitment, rather than because they are Malay, Chinese or Indian."

Koh's remarks came amid speculation that former vice-president hopeful Dr Arsharuddin Ahmad would be appointed a vice-president.

Dr Arsharuddin polled fourth, just 31 votes behind newly-elected vice-president Huan Cheng Guan, who received 568 votes.

"Whether anyone will be appointed to become a vice-president, including (secretary-general) Datuk Chia Kwang Chye, will be decided after the next central committee meeting," Koh said.

The party president, subject to the approval of the central committee, is empowered to appoint up to three additional vice-presidents to supplement the three voted in by party delegates.

It has been suggested that Chia, a party stalwart who refused to contest in the party elections, could be made a vice-president.

Asked if he would accept a senatorship if he was offered one at the next cabinet reshuffle, Koh said: "Even without being a senator or in the government, I have been and will continue to be vocal. However if there is a meaningful and effective role for me to play, I am willing to play it."