PRM president Dr Syed Husin Ali criticised the Barisan Nasional for using children in its advertisements which have appeared in several local newspapers.

"The BN government condemned Barisan Alternatif saying that we used students and children but the coalition are now using children in their advertisements. This is an immoral act which shows that they will do anything to their political advantage," he said at a press conference.

Syed Husin believed that BA parties would be able to win many more seats if the election was clean, fair and peaceful. "PRM hopes to do better this time. People should not give in to fear because of the scare tactics used by the BN," he added.

Syed Husin also spoke out against excessive campaign spending by the BN. In contrast to the BN parties, BA parties relied heavily on volunteers due to lack of funds and resources.

"Many people have voluntarily set up shelters and booths for PRM in their areas, help put up our posters and distribute our leaflets. The effectiveness of BN's campaign machinery is dependent on money whereas ours is on voluntary services," he said.

He believed most of the BN candidates spent beyond the permitted limit of RM50,000 for those contesting in parliamentary seats and RM 30,000 those for running in state seats. "I challenge BN to declare how much they are spending on their campaign including advertisements and rental of temporary operation centres".

When asked on his chances at the polls, Syed Husin, who will be contesting for the second time against incumbent BN-MCA candidate Donald Lim in PJ Selatan, believed he stood a better chance of winning this time round as he is gaining more support from the Malays compared to 1995.

In the 1995 election, Lim beat Syed Husin by a margin of 26 percent. Syed Husin will need a voter swing of 13.5% to win his first parliamentary seat.