Opposition cooperation will be tested again when component parties in the Barisan Alternatif (BA) meet to decide who will contest in the upcoming Gaya by-election in Sabah.

Opposition Leader and PAS acting president Abdul Hadi Awang said his party was interested to contest the seat as "we uphold democracy" and elections are part of it.

Asked about PAS' chances of winning Gaya, Abdul Hadi, who is also Terengganu menteri besar, replied in the affirmative.

However, he added that "if Keadilan is interested, we will let them have the seat".

"The BA presidential council will meet soon to discuss the matter," said Abdul Hadi.

The seat is expected to be vacated on Wednesday by former Sabah chief minister Yong Teck Lee, who has been convicted by the Federal Court of being involved in corrupt practices during the 1999 elections.

Last week, Dewan Rakyat Speaker Mohamed Zahir Ismail said that, Yong has to vacate his seat by Sept 18, as section 48(4) of the Federal Constitution stipulates that an elected representative found guilty by the court would automatically lose his seats 14 days after the date of judgement.

The Federal Court on Sept 3 turned down Yong's application for leave to appeal against a Court of Appeal decision which dismissed his appeal against an Election Court's finding that he had engaged in corrupt practices in the March 1999 state election.

The court's rejection of Yong's application meant that he had exhausted all legal avenues to set aside the Election Court's findings.

Yong was also disqualified as the state assembly representative for Likas, a seat within the Gaya parliamentary constituency.

Keadilan shortlisted three

Besides PAS, Keadilan has also declared its interest in the seat. Its Sabah branch is now shortlisting three candidates for the post.

The party is confident of wresting the seat from BN as it has made inroads into the area especially after the Likas by-election in March last year.

Their candidate, Christina Lee, a lawyer, contested for the first time, garnering 1,724 votes, but lost to Yong who received 9,758 votes.

After PBS rejoined ruling party Barisan Nasional in January this year and left a void in opposition politics in the state, Keadilan has reportedly managed to open several new divisions in Sabah.

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said that the party will consider the request of its branches in Sabah who have expressed interest in contesting. They have also made overtures to DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang to go for Gaya but Lim had stated that he was not interested.

Kerk, the Kota Melaka MP, said the party has a good chance in Gaya as there is a "political vacuum" left by PBS who had withdrawn from BN eight years ago only to return as the prodigal son this year.

Asked if a three-cornered fight between the DAP, BA and BN would reduce the possibility of the opposition securing a seat, Kerk said his party has yet to meet on the impending by-election.

'Good' record

Despite the opposition's bold claims of victory in the "opposition-hungry" state, BN MPs are confident of retaining Gaya.

Bung Moktar Raidin (BN-Kinabatangan) said the government's 'good' record in Sabah and the country are good reasons why the people would choose the BN.

"This record is what makes people confident of BN," he said in the Parliament lobby today.

"However, since we believe in democracy, we will not stop any party from contesting, be it PAS, Keadilan or even DAP," he added.