Former Gerakan secretary-general Liang Teck Meng is unhappy with party president Dominic Lau over the invitation to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to attend the party's Chinese New Year open house in Kuala Lumpur this Saturday.

"The most racist PM (quoted by president) is coming to celebrate the Chinese New Year with Gerakanists.

"I wonder he may get more claps or boos when he steps into the hall," said Liang in a Facebook post tonight.

He was referring to Lau calling Mahathir the "most racist prime minister in Malaysian history" less than three months ago.

Liang attached a screengrab of a post made by Lau on Oct 26 last year in which he slammed Mahathir for his unrepentant attitude over his attendance at the Malay Dignity Congress.

Lau had also accused Mahathir of twisting the facts behind the congress.

Liang, who stepped down as Gerakan secretary-general in Nov 2018 was a two-term MP for Simpang Renggam.

He hashtagged his post with phrases like #gerakanislost and #whereisyourprinciple.

Lau had earlier said that there was no political agenda behind the invitation to Mahathir.

Asked if this would fuel the political rumour mills or signal Gerakan's intention to be part of the Pakatan Harapan coalition, Lau preferred not to dwell on the matter at this juncture.

“This is the festive season. It is Gerakan's tradition to invite the prime minister for its open houses,” he told Malaysiakini.

According to him, Gerakan received a letter from the Prime Minister's Department yesterday confirming Mahathir's attendance.

This was confirmed by an aide to Mahathir.