Keadilan's former Likas candidate Christina Liew is gearing up for the Gaya by-election, scheduled for Oct 12, with nomination day nine days earlier.

It is unlikely that the party would give way to the DAP which has also expressed its interest to contest the seat, although Keadilan vice-president Azmin Ali had said that the party was "open" to any suggestion from its former ally.

DAP too may be unwilling to negotiate as the coming election is seen as a 'high profile' contest which will see the winner represents a constituency right in the heart of Kota Kinabalu city. In Sabah, Gaya is "the" seat to win.

When contacted in Sabah today, Liew said Keadilan was already in the midst of preparing its election machinery.

"This is a high profile election. Our people are prepared to go in and fight. We are even prepared for a three or four-cornered contest" she told malaysiakini .

"Since the Likas by-election last year, we have never stopped working and have opened 14 party branches so far," said Liew, a lawyer.

Asked if she was the party's candidate for Gaya, Liew said she was prepared to do battle again if given the opportunity but was quick to add that it was up to the party to decide.

In third place last year

In the Likas by-election in March last year, Liew came in third polling 1,724 votes. Winner Yong Teck Lee of the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) polled 7,541 while Parti Bersatu Sabah's (PBS) Dr Chong Eng Leong garnered 2,217 votes. A fourth candidate, independent Joshue Kong obtained 50 votes.

The by-election was called after Election Court judge Muhammad Kamil Awang had declared null and void the election results for the Likas state seat in the Sabah state election in March 1999 after finding Yong guilty of committing corrupt practices in the election.

But while the Sabah DAP has made its intentions known, the party's central leadership preferred to adopt a more cautious stand on the matter.

DAP secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said that although the Sabah DAP had expressed a keen desire to contest the seat, the central committee has yet to meet to discuss the by-election.

"The Sabah DAP has not submitted any names yet and we are waiting for more feedback," he told malaysiakini when contacted in Melaka today.

Many aspects to consider

"We have to consider many things like our chances of winning, impact of the by-election, current political scenario and the possibility of three-cornered fights," he added.

On the possibility of Keadilan joining in the fray and decreasing the party's chances of victory, Kerk merely said he would not be surprised that Liew was prepared to contest as she had contested in Likas previously.

Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional, still seething from its recent defeat in the Anak Bukit by-election in July is bound to fight back with a vengeance.

The BN is even more determined after the Federal Court on Sept 3 upheld the Election Court's findings and found Yong guilty of corrupt practices in the 1999 Sabah election, resulting in the Election Commission declaring his Likas seat vacant.

Election Commission chairperson Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman then declared that Yong, who is a former Sabah chief minister, has been disqualified as Gaya MP. The EC fixed nomination day on Oct 3 and polling on Oct 12.

Whoever the BN candidate is, his or her victory, is also seen as a reflection of Umno's internal state of affairs. However, observers say that in Gaya, a Malay candidate has little chance of success.

This is evident in the interested parties wanting to contest Gaya PBS, DAP and Keadilan which are multi-racial and the fact that Yong, as a Chinese, has been able to hold on to the Likas seat, part of the Gaya parliamentary constituency, since 1986.

Project BN spirit

Sabah Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat tried to project the Barisan Nasional spirit when he announced in Kota Kinabalu on Friday that the Gaya candidate can be from any component party.

"There will be a candidate from BN. It doesn't matter which party he represents because what is more important is the BN," Chong was quoted as saying in the New Sabah Times .

"Let us think of Barisan Nasional...no other component party is important," he added..

Chong, who is Sabah BN chairperson, was commenting on Yong's optimism on Monday that the BN would nominate a candidate from SAPP in the Gaya by-election.

Yong said this was in keeping with the BN convention, stressing that it was followed in the last five by-elections held in the country.