Seven days into campaigning for the Gaya parliamentary seat, opposition supporters are torn over which of "their" candidates to support come polling day on Saturday.

With Keadilan's Christina Liew and DAP's Dr Hiew King Cheu, both 50, standing in the by-election alongside the Barisan Nasional's Liew Teck Chan, 54 their dilemma is obvious.

The candidates themselves are feeling the heat of competition. Liew has stepped up her campaign, as DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang began working the grassroots in Kota Kinabalu today on behalf of his party's candidate.

The Gaya seat fell vacant following the disqualification of its Member of Parliament, SAPP president and the state's former chief minister Yong Teck Lee, for an election offence.

Split votes

DAP's campaign platform incorporates its 'Say No to 929' protest of Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's declaration on Sept 29 last year that Malaysia is already an Islamic state.

In response, Keadilan is publicly urging voters, especially the ethnic Chinese, to consolidate their support for the opposition by choosing its candidate, who is claimed to have a better chance of winning.

Liew herself said that, if the votes were split between the opposition parties, both their candidates would lose and that the BN nominee would win.

Citing the situation during the 1994 Sabah elections, she said the presence of DAP worked out to the detriment of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) in seats where there was a three-cornered fight.

In Elopura, BN's Yham Nyip Shen garnered 4,854 votes against the 3,984 votes won by PBS and the 870 that went to DAP. Yham won by a majority of 871.

In Tanjong Papat, BN's Tan Su Kiah received 3,614 votes, winning by a majority of 87. He beat Lai Lun Tze of PBS who got 3,527 votes and the DAP candidate, who had 1,282 votes.

"PBS was supposed to form the state government that year, but many of its assembly representatives crossed over to join the BN," Liew said. Before the crossover, PBS had 25 seats and BN, 23.

"DAP's presence spilt the opposition votes. This led to the downfall of the PBS government. That changed the political landscape of Sabah."

The Chinese factor

Liew stressed, though, that there was "nothing personal" in her call to voters to support Keadilan instead of DAP.

Insisting that the contest between the two parties was a friendly one, she reiterated that Sabahans who want an opposition voice in Parliament would throw their support behind one party only.

DAP is hoping to see a repeat of 1986 when it pulled off a surprise victory in Gaya through Gerald Math, who won by 8,000 votes, largely due to support from Chinese voters.

The party also won three other urban constituencies with huge numbers of Chinese voters Tanjung Aru, Sandakan and Tawau.

Chinese Malaysian voters make up 19,122 (38.69 percent) of the Gaya electorate, followed by non-Muslim bumiputra at 16,463 (33.3 percent), Malay Malaysians 10,699 (21.64 percent), Indian Malaysians 394 (0.8 percent) and other Malaysians 2,749 (5.56 percent).

PRM support

Meanwhile, PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali said the party fully supports Keadilan's decision to nominate Liew for the Gaya by-election..

He said Christina would be able to represent the opposition as well as women's interests in the Dewan Rakyat if she is elected.

Syed Husin claimed that the social needs of the people such as housing, medical and education had been neglected as a result of such services being privatised. The unequal distribution of wealth and allegations of rampant corruption are other issues to be addressed by the opposition.

"Look at this by-election ... BN is already allocating money for several projects. This is blatant bribery and we urge the police to investigate," he added.