Founded in 1968 as a multi-ethnic reformist opposition party, Gerakan captured Penang in the 1969 general election and joined the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in 1974. The party has also undergone several rounds of power struggles and leadership changes.

However, several structural constraints in the race-based political system in Malaysia have ensured that Gerakan remains a Chinese-predominated mini-MCA and one of Umno's strategic leverages to check and balance its second largest Chinese ally.

Can Gerakan transcend the structural limitations the Umno-MCA-MIC alliance had inherited from the British?