Disgruntled Gerakan Youth members plotting chief Tan Keng Liang’s removal
Barely eight months after being elected as Gerakan Youth chief, plans are afoot to remove Tan Keng Liang as members find it difficult to work with him.
The crisis may come to a head when the disgruntled members get to convene an extraordinary general meeting to remove Tan, who is popular on social media through his Facebook and Twitter postings.
Confirming that there is a move to get Tan to step down, deputy Youth chief Andy Yong said the majority of the movement’s members find it hard to get along with him.
“Many members find him lacking teamwork,” he told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.
Yong said the issue will be raised at the wing's central committee meeting today in Kuala Lumpur, and a press conference will be called for after that.
Talk that members had been unhappy with Tan has been circulating for some time although members had remained tight-lipped about what was going on within the Youth wing.
Gerakan Youth deputy secretary-general Ooi Zhi Ying said no one has made any official statements on the matter.
“There have been such rumours going around but the issue has never been raised. No motion has so far been made against Tan.
“If people are unhappy with him, I think it is a normal thing. It is common for people to be unhappy with the leadership due to differing opinions,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
According to the party's constitution, an EGM can be called if directed by the president or central committee as well as requested by at least 50% of the divisions.
Two-thirds of votes from members present are needed to vote in favour of a resolution.
National secretary-general Liang Teck Meng said the national leadership had not received any request for an EGM to remove Tan.
When contacted, Tan expressed surprise at the move, saying: “This is news to me, I haven't heard anything. I don't know if there are any such moves.”
He said any move to convene an EGM had to adhere to the party's constitution.
“Obviously I cannot please everyone but I am doing my best. However, so far, there's nothing official about the EGM,” he said. – June 21, 2014.
