KUALA LUMPUR: As Gerakan's only surviving elected representative in the five opposition states, there is a lot of expectation and pressure on Derga state assemblyman Dr Cheah Soon Hai.

Dubbed "the opposition" by his Gerakan comrades, it was evident that party delegates appreciated his role as he polled 1,174 votes to become a central committee member yesterday. This is the highest number of votes received by any of the 40 candidates vying for the 18 spots.

Dr Cheah, who is also the Kedah Gerakan state chairman, said he would get a lot of calls, faxes and emails asking him to raise certain issues before state assembly meetings.

"But now that I have been elected as a central committee member, the communication lines between the central leadership and me will be tighter.

"In fact, I could be their eyes and ears on the developments in the Pas government in Kedah and, in turn, other Gerakan leaders can make those issues known on the national level."

On the party's plan to become more multiracial, Dr Cheah said he planned to recruit Malaysian Siamese living in Kedah.

He said Malaysian Siamese make up 20 per cent of the Kedah population compared with the Chinese who number about 16 per cent.

Another addition to the central committee is blogger Dr Hsu Dar Ren, who is also Gerakan's Cheras division chief.

Dr Hsu, who has more than 700 entries in his blog, polled the third highest number of votes with 977 votes.

He said he had always been writing about party reforms from an outside-of-leadership perspective and was excited that he could now take his ideas straight to the party leaders.