The upcoming by-election in Ketari could either be a stunning victory for the opposition as in Lunas or a dismal defeat as in Indera Kayangan, DAPs national chairperson Lim Kit Siang said today.

Will it be a repeat of the Lunas by-election in 2000 which turned a Barisan Nasional 4,700 majority victory in the 1999 general elections into a stunning 530 majority for Barisan Alternatif?

Or [will we find ourselves] with an Indera Kayangan duplicate where BN won with an unexpected 2,593 majority this year, up from the 1,974 majority in the 1999 general elections, posed Lim.

His remark comes on the heels of the ensuing battle for the recently vacanted Ketari seat following the demise of Gerakans Loke Koon Kam.

The Election Commission is expected to announce the date of the by-election on Monday.

Lim went on to infer that if the Indera Kayangan by-elections had been held before Sept 11, the outcome would have been very different and similarly, the up-coming Ketari elections would also be influenced by the nine-eleven attacks as well.

The [Ketari] elections will be an important test-case as to whether the breaking of BNs political [dominance] is still within the grasp of Malaysians, as this will probably be the last by-election before the next general elections, he added.

However, he warned that BN must not be allowed to camouflage its anti-democracy campaign behind an anti-terrorist crusade by exploiting the Sept 11 events

The far-reaching political and electoral implications wrought by the Sept 11 events on the political landscape as testified by the very different results in the Lunas and Indera Kayangan by-elections should be the common concern of all opposition parties, he said.

Underhanded tactics

On a similar pre-election note, DAPs secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock warned of a repeat of BNs underhanded tactics in the 1999 general elections and the Teluk Kemang by-elections in 2000.

[If it wasnt for the general elections], BN would not have promised Bukit Pelanduk pig farmers an additional RM70 per pig for the first 2,000 pigs culled, and if not for the Teluk Kemang by-elections, pig farmers would still be waiting for their compensation according to the new scheme, he said.

He indicated that DAP will make the still unresolved plight of the pig farmers in Bukit Pelanduk an issue in the Ketari by-election.

Kerk, who is also DAPs election committee chairperson for the Ketari seat, lashed out at MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik for failing to provide a satisfactory explanation concerning the MCA JE Humanitarian Fund.

Pig farmers have alleged certain irregularities in the disbursements of the fund. MCA set up the controversial JE fund with donations from the public to help those who suffered from the deadly Nipah virus outbreak in 1998.

I will explain to the Ketari voters that MCA [has yet to give an acceptable answer] despite the fact that [they] have committed breach of public trust in the disbursement of [the fund].

[We] have evidence that MCA disbursed the fund to persons who were neither Nipah patients nor pig farmers ... and in the list of recipients [of the fund], 706 Malays were listed, he added.

Kerk expressed that in the Ketari by-elections, Ling must be pressured to tell the truth to the voters.

DAP will be fielding third-time running Choong Siew Onn in Ketari. Choong lost by a narrow majority of 231 votes to the late Loke in the last general elections in 1999.

Another opposition party, Keadilan, will decide on Sunday whether it would also contest the by-elections, making it a three-cornered fight.