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BUTTERWORTH: It looks like the tiff between the state Umno and Gerakan in Penang is set to drag on as both sides are unwilling to resolve their differences.
A day after newly-elected state Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Teng Hock Nan said Gerakan-Umno relations would not resume just yet, Penang Umno liaison committee secretary Datuk Azhar Ibrahim also shot down any hopes for an end to the issue. Azhar said the state Umno would leave it to Gerakan leaders in Penang to decide whether they wanted to become allies again. "It was Gerakan who severed ties with us and it should not look to us to resume relations. "They started it first and they must make the first move now. We leave it to Gerakan to decide on its next course of action." Azhar was asked to comment on Dr Teng's statement that Gerakan would wait for an olive branch from new Umno leaders before deciding whether it would resume ties with the party. Gerakan severed ties with the state Umno following the controversy surrounding racial comments made by Datuk Ahmad Ismail, the former Bukit Bendera Umno division chief, during the Permatang Pauh by-election. Some Umno members also tore down and stepped on the photograph of former Penang chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon at the state Umno headquarters here. Azhar said Gerakan should not wait for the state Umno to make amends and the party had considered it to be a non-issue. Stating that the state Umno-Gerakan relations were not even being discussed at the ongoing divisional meetings, Azhar said: "We have no time to think about it. We have other important matters to look into like the issue of Malay unity, strengthening the party and wresting back the four state seats that we lost in Penang in the general election." Meanwhile, Dr Teng maintained Gerakan's stand on the issue. He said the party would wait for an olive branch from the new Umno leaders and not rush into any decision. - nst
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The Blogs 
What olive branch? even if they have, it's a fake olive branch made out of C4!