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©The Malaysian Insider (Used by permission)

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been dubbed the “Father of Democratic Reforms” by Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.

In his opening speech this morning at Gerakan’s national delegates conference, Koh said that “as the Prime Minister, Abdullah has initiated reforms for good governance and promoted commitment to integrity. As an advocate for democracy, he has opened up more space for expression to Malaysians.”

At a press conference later, he added that under Abdullah’s administration, the country had seen the “rise of new media and even the printed press have run a lot of reports that have exposed the shortcomings of the government” and said that this was his legacy as prime minister.

Koh also said that while Abdullah was committed to fighting corruption and uplifting the standards of living of the poor, more reforms were required.

He called on Abdullah's designated successor Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to "continue with the reforms in government started by Abdullah".

The former Penang chief minister said that after the huge mandate given to Gerakan and Barisan Nasional in 2004, "the implementation of such reforms has been delayed and some reforms were even derailed."

He claimed that the people are unhappy with the lack of efficiency and integrity in the government's delivery system, the disparity between the rich and poor, and statements and gestures by some politicians that were racist and extreme leading to "a wave of anti-BN sentiments, resulting in the worst results ever suffered by the BN in the March 8 general election.

As such, he called for detainees under the Internal Security Act not involved in terrorism to be released and for the Act to be replaced with legislation specifically on terrorism.

"Recent arrests under the Internal Security Act have convinced the public that the ISA is open to abuse. It has become a liability to the government," he insisted.

During the press conference, Koh said that the issue of the party's position in BN was not yet closed.

"We are still thinking about how to reform the party. As far as the central leadership is concerned, we will work with Abdullah and Najib.

"Abdullah has promised to reform so we are with him. As you can see, the response to him during his speech was more positive," he said when quizzed on his recent statement that a majority of the grassroots wanted to leave BN.

Koh was also asked if its current impetus to recruit more non-Chinese members meant that the party was not interested in doing so in the past.

He clarified that previously "we did not have a programme to reach out and publicise. We welcomed them if they wanted to join but we did not go out and actively recruit them."

Koh also said that as part of the process of "opening the doors wider", the party is considering the establishment of "cyber branches" which would be "borderless."

He said that it would require the constitution to be amended as currently it required members to register with branches that were in specific geographic locations.

"So Malaysians in the US or Europe can be members of a branch which will have its own organisation. The chairman can be from Penang and the secretary from Bangkok and they will communicate via the Internet."

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