KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 (Bernama) -- Gerakan Saturday welcomed the government's decision to declassify several confidential documents to allow Malaysians to know the reasons behind the government's decision to abort construction of the "scenic bridge" to replace the Johor Causeway.

Party president Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said the party supported the government's decision as it was a good move to show what had transpired and bring about more transparency on the issue.

He, however, said the party was worried over the attitude of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and hoped that the former Prime Minister would be satisfied with the explanation given by the various ministries on the issue.

"Whether it will completely satisfy him or not, I hope he (Tun) will consider the position of the government which is trying its best to move forward the country's economy," he told reporters after chairing Gerakan's monthly central committee meeting here today.

Dr Lim said: "We have to move forward. Any distraction should be avoided. I say this as a loyal Barisan (BN) member, hoping that this spat will be put to rest so that we can carry on to move the economy forward."

In the package of documents released by the Prime Minister's Department yesterday, the government declassified some of the document that included correspondences between Dr Mahathir and two former Singapore prime ministers, Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong.

It had also released extracts of the record of the meeting between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Goh in Kuala Lumpur in March last year on the issue.

This is second time in recent history that information protected by the Official Secrets Act 1972 has been declassified and approved for public consumption.

It puts the record straight on a string of allegations raised by Dr Mahathir on the matter.

Dr Lim also announced the party's national delegates conference would be opened by Abdullah on Sept 2 at Menara PGRM.

At the conference, the party would make several amendments to its constitution including setting a ceiling time frame for office bearers at branch and division levels.

Currently, the office bearers tenure at branch and divisions are only two years per term compared to three years a term at state and national levels.

The party would also table an amendment to allow for an acting chairman at national, state, division and branch levels.

This is because the Gerakan constitution states that in case of a death or resignation of a person who had served as chairman at any level of the party, the position must be filled within 30 days after it fell vacant.

Dr Lim also said the party would amend another section of the constitution to give the Gerakan CC the power to postpone party elections for not more than 15 months after the expiry of a term.