DAP today announced the launch of its concerted Internet campaign - called e-campaign - as its latest strategy to woo voters in preparation for the coming general election.

Young voters and supporters in the high Internet penetration areas have been identified as key targets to complement its grassroots outreach activities, said party Secretary General Lim Guan Eng in a press conference this morning

The e-campaign aims at utilising the Internet as a major campaigning arena as the party believed that if the Internet was "properly channeled, the Internet community can shape the outcome of the general election and maximized to even reach non-Internet users."

Jeff Ooi, a prominent blogger who recently made headlines for joining the party, will be leading the e-campaign project

"Jeff Ooi, as the godfather of blogging community in Malaysia would be most appropriate for this groundbreaking role" added Lim.

Diving into details, Ooi explained that "an interactive portal will be launched soon as a one-stop platform to assist in disseminating the party's campaign messages in relation to the general election."

"The portal will also act as the virtual press center, where profiles and on-ground campaign activities of its candidates nationwide, press release and high resolution images for printing, will be available for download by the members of the media," he added

To render the e-campaign user-friendly Ooi said, "pervasive consumer technologies, like PDF, MP3 and YouTube will be used."

This method will also serve as a platform to recruit election volunteers and consolidate the party's fund-raising campaign, added Ooi.

Threats by government

Lim also gave another reason to why the party chose the Internet as one of its battleground.

"Even though there are only five million Internet subscribers in Malaysia, the number of Internet users is higher. Malaysia has 13.5 million Internet users as of September 2006 or an Internet penetration of 47.8 percent" he said

"We are amongst the top 50 countries of Internet users. And with this, we hope to witness the birth of Internet effect in influencing issues, have a say in setting the agenda and shaping the outcome of the general elections."

Lim had hope for the "Malaysian Internet community to stand up to the threats and bullying by the government", referring to the recent crackdown and threats made by the government on bloggers and online dissenters.

To make the e-campaign a success, Ooi pleaded with the public for financial support.

"This will help us sustain our existing campaigns for democracy, exposing corruption, promoting socio-economic justice and monitoring government's excesses," he said.

A preview of the scope of the DAP e-campaign will be held in the party's national election technical preparatory conference this Sunday.