The 'never say die' DAP was routed in Penang in the last three general elections, but the opposition party will still attempt to capture as many of the 40 state seats as possible.

National vice-chairperson Zulkifli Mohd Nor is confident that Penang DAP will win more than half of the 14 Chinese-dominated state seats in the next election.

There are 10 Malay-based seats, while the remaining 16 have a racial balance.

In 1995, the DAP's Tanjung 3 onslaught to capture Penang crashed when the party lost 25 of the 26 seats it contested. It only won Batu Lanchang, a result repeated in 1999.

In 2004, it lost even this seat but took Sungai Puyu instead.

The DAP expects to focus on Bagan Jermal, Berapit, Padang Lallang, Perai, Air Putih, Datuk Keramat, Batu Lanchang, Air Itam, Seri Delima, Bukit Tengah, Jawi and Paya Terubong in the forthcoming elections.

"With the right campaign strategy and a little help from other opposition parties, we can win more state seats. The opposition front could even deny Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority (in the state legislature)," Zulkifli said.

Since the party motto is 'Go Big' and Penang has always been its frontline state, he said the DAP should contest at least 25 state seats.

"We cannot contest only 21 or 22 seats and tell Penangites that we want to form the next state government. We cannot fool the voters," he said.

"We (need to) to boost public confidence in us. Only then will we have a fighting chance to win more than half of the seats."

Long before that, however, the DAP will have to persuade other opposition partners, especially the PKR, to let its candidates contest in these seats.

DAP and PKR are expected to negotiate seat allocation again, as they have been doing in the past to prevent the opposition vote from being split.