GE14 | Gerakan has expressed its confidence that the party will do better in the 14th national polls (GE) compared to its performance in 2013.

Speaking to reporters in Penang today, its president Mah Siew Keong (above) said party leaders have worked very hard in the state in the last four years and raised many important issues affecting the people.

Issues which Gerakan leaders have been vocal about include hillslope development, illegal factories in Sungai Lembu and the impact of the Penang undersea tunnel project on the environment and the people, said Mah.

Mah said party leaders also provided help to the people when they faced problems with the state government although Gerakan failed to win any seats in 2008 and 2013.

"We have done much research. We spoke out and gave our suggestions. That is why I say we are confident that this time around Gerakan can do better. We will fight hard in all seats," Mah said at the party's state headquarters in Georgetown.

In 2013, Gerakan contested 13 state and four parliament seats in Penang and lost all.

For the coming election, Gerakan will most likely contest 45 seats nationwide (32 state and 12 parliamentary).

Accompanying Mah at the press conference were state leaders including Penang BN and Gerakan chief Teng Chang Yeow (below).

As for the swap of the Batu Kawan and Bayan Baru parliament seats between MCA and Gerakan, Mah said "at this time" there will be no such swap.

He was responding to questions about six MCA division leaders who expressed their unhappiness at the proposal.

Teng previously said the proposal was already discussed when Dr Chua Soi Lek was MCA president, prior to current chief Liow Tiong Lai.

Asked if Gerakan would be fielding more non-Chinese candidates as it professes to be a multiracial party, Mah responded in the positive.

"The candidates will be young, capable and experienced," he said but declined to announce the party's candidate list saying it first had to be approved by the BN supreme council led by BN chairperson and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

As for his Teluk Intan seat which Mah won by a razor-thin majority of 283 votes in a by-election against DAP candidate Dyana Sofya in 2014, the BN minister said: "We worked hard, we have been gaining ground but it is an uphill task".

Asked if he would accept a senator's or minister's post if he were to lose in this election, Mah replied: "I will not be a backdoor senator".

"In 2013, I lost, I declined to become a senator. I said if I lost I would not be a senator and I did not just talk. After I lost, I appointed others (to the senatorship)," Mah said.

Former Gerakan chief and former Penang chief minister Koh Tsu Koon was often criticised for being a "back door senator" as he accepted a senatorship after losing in the 2008 polls.

Asked about the party's strategy for the coming polls, Teng said the party must strive to win all seats, not just certain ones.

However, if the party or coalition which he leads were to lose massively again, "[…] it is a foregone conclusion that the people have kicked us out".

"The final decision depends on the people," Teng said.