TELUK INTAN A win for Gerakan in the Teluk Intan by-election will give the party "bargaining power" within the BN coalition, its candidate for the by-election Mah Siew Keong said today.

It would be difficult for him to make certain demands within the BN if he loses Teluk Intan for the third straight time, Mah, who is also Gerakan president, told Malaysiakini in a joint interview with another online news portal at his operations centre.

"If I win, I will have a platform. If the president is rejected, then I will have no bargaining power with my partners," Mah said.

"Gerakan can have a bigger say, to push for reforms," added Mah, who gave interview in the midst of a busy atmosphere at his operations centre, where his staff were giving out aid in the form of basic necessities to the Teluk Intan constituents.

"I know this is a do-or-die battle for me," he said, without outlining the repercussions should he lose. I don't want to pre-empt by continuously talking about what happens if I lose."

Gerakan has often been accused of not being able to stand up to Umno within the coalition when it comes to racial issues, but Mah insisted that since the last general election, Gerakan has made sure its voice is heard on every important matter.

"The last one year, we have become more vocal. We fight for more issues, we have been criticising a lot of issues, even from the opposition. We made a stand on hudud," Mah said.

However, he admitted feeling "stressed" and is "concerned" about the implications for the entire party, if he as the president loses this by-election.

Mah, who served as Pasir Bedamar assemblyperson from 1995 to 1999 before serving as Teluk Intan MP from 1999 to 2008, lost the 2008 and 2013 general elections for this seat.

He also said he did not understand why DAP leaders were labelling their candidate, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, as the underdog in the by-election.

"I don't understand. They won the last election with a 7,600 vote majority, and their MP passed away. Don't tell me there are no sympathy votes. How can they become the underdog?" he asked.

‘I only said I will not contest in GE14’

Mah also explained that he did not go back on his words to not contest the next general election after he lost the contest for the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat in the 2013 general election.

"I only said I will not contest in GE14, which is four years down the road. But this by-election came so soon, and people wanted me to take up this challenge.

"I'm pretty sure, if I did not take up the challenge, the criticism would be hundred times worse. People would say the president was running away from the challenge," Mah said.

He also does not think that DAP's factionalism would affect the votes that the party can get in Teluk Intan.

"I don't think the factionalism will affect votes. There are more voters than there are party members, and I heard they are all coming together eventually," said Mah, who, at most times, preferred to be honest about the reality of the task he has in hand.

His greatest strength, for him, is the fact that he is a local boy who has served Teluk Intan for a long time. Further, his service centre had never been shut down despite him losing the last two elections.

"It is still open. People still come here for help. In the last two years, we have helped 3,000 families with basic necessities, through donations from the private sector. We still do this, even though I'm a nobody here. I have no position. Not an MP, not assemblyperson, nothing," Mah said.

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