Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) today slammed LDP president Liew Vui Keong for trying to shift the blame on his party’s problems to Gerakan, describing it as a poor attempt to pick up a quarrel with another Barisan Nasional component party.

PGRM vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong said Liew should not pick a fight with Gerakan.

“We want to make this clear to Liew. Certainly, Gerakan did not poach Sabah’s State Assemblyman for Karamunting Peter Pang, as claimed by Liew,” said Mah, adding that Pang, who is also a state minister, joined Gerakan months after he had left LDP.

Mah also noted that Pang took his time to come to a decision to join Gerakan and after having met Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to get his blessing.

“LDP should not blame others instead introspect as to why they lost a capable leader like Peter Pang. On the other issue, it was SAPP which went into opposition & the assemblymen, Raymond Tan Shu Kiah (Tanjung Papat) and Au Kam Wah (Elopura) decided to join Gerakan and that has nothing to do with LDP & Liew,” said Mah in a statement.

Mah said Gerakan’s grassroots’ strength has been increasing especially after the two assemblymen from SAPP and Tan Sri Liew Yun Fah from Tawau joined the party with their supporters.

Mah was commenting on a media report on Wednesday that LDP had warned Gerakan against making any move to claim the Karamunting state seat in the next general election.

LDP president Liew Vui Keong said the seat, currently held by state Youth and Sports Minister Peter Pang, is a traditional LDP seat and will remain an LDP seat.

“We have held the seat since 1999 and won every single election there. I won’t allow Gerakan to take the seat… it is not up for negotiation,” he said when met in the Parliament lobby.