KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 - It has been so long since a Malay contested a senior position in Gerakan that no one seems to know when the last time it happened.
Today, Dr Asharuddin Ahmad became the first Malay candidate for vice-president "since the 1970s," according to party president Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon.
The Kuala Selangor division committee member claimed a more modest 15 years since a Malay contested for a central post.
Officials from Sedar - the party's think-tank - were also left unsure as to the precise piece of trivia and will be going back to the record books on this one.
After submitting his nomination papers, Asharuddin told reporters that there was nothing unusual about his candidacy as the party was co-founded 40 years ago by Prof Syed Hussein Alatas.
He said he had joined the party about 10 years ago to "fight for Bangsa Malaysia" and feels that he has contributed enough to warrant a place as one of three vice-presidents.
"I don't believe in racial politics and Malays today are not how they were 15 years ago. We've matured and want to be competitive on a level playing field," he said adding that he wanted to contest to push for a more multiracial platform for the party.
Insisting that he is not an unknown at national level, he said that over 20% of Gerakan's membership are non-Chinese and so the party should not be seen as a Chinese party.
"I feel we just need the right 'marketing strategy' to attract more non-Chinese," he added.
Koh also said that this development was a continuation of a more multiracial outlook for the party as the state-level elections had seen the party's first Indian state chairman - Senator A Kohilan Pillay in Selangor - being elected as well as Asmah Alias being returned as Selangor Wanita chief.
He also said it was a good sign that more non-Chinese are running and encouraged them to keep trying even if they were defeated in their first few attempts.
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