The Penang MCA division leader, who did not want to be named, said BN was mocked by many after its chief Teng Chang Yeow “declared” he had gone on leave.
The MCA man said he and seven divisions which were unhappy with Teng and had asked Prime Minister Najib Razak to replace him. Teng is from the Gerakan.
“I do not want to meddle in Gerakan’s politics. That is their internal matter. Our problem is that the state BN is crippled. There is no unity. We have the best chance to win back a lot of seats this time as Pakatan is at its weakest.
“And here we have a state BN chairman on ‘sabbatical leave’ and then he says he is back in action after the DAP announced plans for state polls. What rubbish is this?” the MCA leader told FMT.
Teng, who was appointed state BN chairman by the prime minister, had announced in March that he was going on long leave, and it was widely rumoured that he would quit the party.
Sources close to the party had said that Teng was retiring from politics for good, and would hand over his state Gerakan chairmanship to his right hand man, Oh Tong Keong. Oh was state party secretary and was later appointed Vice-Chairman I.
After Teng’s departure, Oh has been widely credited as Penang Gerakan’s acting chairman in media reports.
However, Teng made a surprise announcement that he was coming back to the fold, following an announcement by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that snap polls would be held in July.
However, the snap polls did not take place as there were disagreements within Pakatan component parties.
Penang Gerakan was in the headlines recently after stories of its internal squabbling surfaced. There are said to be two factions in the state Gerakan.
Later, news spread that an Umno federal minister was tipped to take over as state BN chairman, following Gerakan’s internal crisis. Umno has since denied interest in the position.
Yesterday, however, two letters stating that Teng would eventually “relinquish” all positions were given to FMT. Teng has since clarified that he had only announced “his intention to resign”.
The first letter was Teng’s resignation as Penang Gerakan leader and another was his resignation as party Central Committee member. Both letters were addressed to party president Mah Siew Keong.
Related stories: