DAPs exit from Barisan Alternatif could cause an erosion of support from Malay Malaysian voters hence giving Gerakan the advantage for the Ketari by-election in Pahang, said a party leader today.

Party Youth chief Teng Chang Kim said, DAP has never won the seat before and in 1999 [general elections], we lost by only 231 votes because of the significant increase in Malay votes.

Since DAP was no longer part of the BA, it was uncertain if the party could secure the same percentage of votes from the community, he told malaysiakini.

Last week, Teng reportedly said it would take a miracle for DAP to win the state seat in the March 31 by-election.

Asked if such statements could have a demoralising effect on the partys potential voters, Teng said voters have to be reminded that the upcoming battle was a difficult one due to the Barisan Nasional machinery.

He said the ruling coalitions election machinery has grown 100 times stronger since 1999.

Umno has applied a new strategy of mobilising the Puteri Umno. It is not easy to counter this as experienced by Keadilan during the Indera Kayangan by-election, he explained.

The Jan 19 Indera Kayangan by-election in Perlis saw Keadilan candidate Khoo Yang Chong suffering a huge defeat in the hands of BNs Oui Ah Lan.

Chinese votes

Teng also acknowledged the challenges posed by BN to DAPs position among Chinese Malaysian voters.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad raised the issue of Chinese education to give assurances to the Chinese community. This could result in a positive effect for BN, he said.

The premier recently said the government had no legal right to close down Chinese schools in a bid to allay the communitys concern about the future of mother-tongue education in Malaysia.

However, Teng said, DAP would counter this by revealing BNs past track record and inconsistent policies concerning this issue.

[BN leaders] accuse [Chinese] educationists as being communists but change their stance when there is an election, he pointed out.

Teng said the party would also highlight other issues during its campaign such as corruption in the government, malpractices in privatisation exercises, low EPF dividends as well as the Tabung Haji scandal.

When asked, he said DAP would also have to face the Islamic state issue as it will be working with PAS and Keadilan. Gerakan will bring it on but we will also point out Gerakans inconsistent policies on this matter.

The Islamic state issue was the catalyst behind DAPs withdrawal from BA last September.

The party said it opted to leave due to irreconcilable differences with PAS over the latters aim to set up an Islamic state should it come into power.

Meanwhile, Teng also revealed that PAS Youth chief Mahfuz Omar and Keadilan deputy Youth chief Saifuddin Nasution Ismail have assured DAP they would be present in Ketari during the campaign period which begins after nomination day tomorrow.

Out of context

In a related matter, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock today said his statement was taken out of context when he commented on the partys chances for winning the Ketari seat.

Last Wednesday, The Star quoted Kerk as saying that BN had won the by-election even before polling day.

However, Kerk claimed all he said was that DAPs chances was about 45 percent and that BN had the upper hand.

The DAP leader said he was able to gauge Gerakans advantage based on an analysis made after meeting the people in Ketari.

Responding to a question on whether DAP encountered difficulties in obtaining police permits for ceramah (public talks), Kerk said there were no problems so far.

Yesterday, Deputy Home Affairs Minister Zainal Abidin Zin said the government would not lift the ban on outdoor ceramah but indoor ones would be permitted.

The Ketari by-election will see a straight fight between Gerakans Yum Ah Ha and DAPs Choong Siew Onn. The seat fell vacant following the death of its representative, Loke Koon Kam of Gerakan.

Loke beat Choong with a 231-vote majority in the 1999 general elections.

Ketari has 17,143 registered voters, of which 95 are postal votes. Chinese Malaysians comprise 53.83 percent (9,228) of the constituency, Malay Malaysians 39.12 percent (6,706) and Indian Malaysians 5.21 percent (843).

The Orang Asli comprise 1.3 percent (223), bumiputra from Sabah and Sarawak 0.21 percent (36) and others 0.33 percent (57).