IS there finally light at the end of the tunnel for Gerakan? Can the multi-racial party make a comeback following its impressive victory in the recent Teluk Intan by-election which saw its president Datuk Mah Siew Keong defeating DAP's newbie Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the parliamentary seat?
Touted as one of the toughest battles since the 13th General Election, Mah silenced the party's critics when he managed to wrest the seat from DAP, which had been holding onto it for the last two terms.
The Teluk Intan parliamentary seat used to be a Gerakan stronghold. It was held by Mah until DAP's M. Manogaran wrested it in the 12th General Election.
The seat was subsequently held by DAP's Seah Leong Peng in the 13th General Election until his death on May 1, due to cancer, which paved the way for the by-election.
Indeed, Gerakan has come under intense scrutiny and heavy criticism following its poor showing in the 13th General Election where the party only managed to win one parliamentary and three state seats. It had contested in 11 parliamentary and 31 state seats.
In the 2008 general election, Gerakan won two parliamentary and four state seats.
In both its bastions in Penang and Perak, Gerakan was totally wiped out, and fell from grace. The party also lost power in Penang after governing the state for almost 39 years.
Following that, the party, which had been brought to its knees, had been labelled a host of names by its critics, with some calling Gerakan a "sunset party".
The question of Gerakan's survival had also been raised by its very own members. Some had also dismissed the party as a "goner".
One wonders if all that is set to change with the recent development in Teluk Intan. With Mah's victory, can this prove Gerakan's relevance in mainstream politics come the 14th General Election?
According to the man himself, Gerakan is not a "sunset party". In fact, it is set to further strenghten its position and grow stronger in future.
"People have been saying that our sun is setting, but from what we see, our sun is actually rising. It depends on how you see it. Different people see different things.
"As far as we are concerned, our sun is going up," Mah had said in his walkabout at the Pasar Besar in Teluk Intan to thank voters, a day after he defeated Dyana Sofya with a 238-vote majority.
Some analysts had said that Mah's victory marked a turning point for Gerakan while others opined that there was little hope for the party's revival.
For Universiti Sains Malaysia's political analyst Dr P. Sivamurugan Gerakan should use the victory in Teluk Intan to make a comeback.
"In fact, with the president winning the (parliamentary) seat, he should utilise his ministerial position to reinvent the party.
"The party stands a good chance because, after continuously losing twice, it made a comeback," he told the New Straits Times.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had pledged to appoint Mah a minister if he won the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election.
One wonders what is on Mah's mind now and how he plans to prove that the party is still relevant?
Maybe, for a start, Gerakan can make a strong comeback in Perak, a state where the party has always tried to expand its influence, after its stronghold in Penang, prior to the 12th General Election in 2008.
This is not at all a far-fetched dream since Perak is where Mah, Gerakan's fifth president, has been calling "home" all this while.
If Mah can make a difference in Perak come the next general election, this will prove that the party is still very much in-tune with mainstream politics.
Otherwise, the party is as good as proving its critics' right.
