Gerakan will be going on the offensive in Kuala Lumpur with its 'two-plus-one' campaign to add DAP stronghold Kepong to the Batu and Segambut parliamentary seats already held by the party.

Gerakan Kuala Lumpur chairperson and two-term Segambut MP Dr Tan Kee Kwong today said his party is aiming for victory in all the three seats, which has been allocated to the party by Barisan Nasional to contest in the territory.

"We will contest in three out of 11 Kuala Lumpur seats - Batu, Kepong and Segambut. Now, we have two incumbent MPs and we want to add one more," he said during an interview at his office.

Of the three seats contested by Gerakan, Tan - who is land and cooperative development deputy minister - won by a comfortable margin of 8,500 votes against DAP's M Manoharan.

His compatriot, Batu MP Ng Lip Yong defeated Parti Rakyat Malaysia candidate Dr Sanusi Osman with a tighter margin of 2,297 votes (3.4 percent).

Gerakan rookie Ma Woei Chyi lost in Kepong to DAP incumbent Dr Tan Seng Giaw by a narrow majority of 1,766 votes. This was an unexpected outcome considering that the latter has been a fixture in the area for close to three decades.

(Seng Giaw started his political activities in Kepong in 1976 by serving Tan's late father, the highly regarded Dr Tan Chee Khoon, a former opposition leader and founder of Gerakan.)

Encouraging signs

Evaluating Gerakan's chances in Kepong, Tan said ground reports by party workers have shown encouraging signs.

"I think we have done our homework...(Seng Giaw) has been there for too long. We are going to give him a good run for his money," he added.

Tan said the decision to field Ma, a 33-year-old lawyer, against Seng Giaw ( right ) for a second time is part of the party's strategy to achieve its three-seat sweep.

"One of the complaints at Kepong last time was that we kept changing our candidates but this time we will be fielding the same one - Ma Woei Chyi, a trilingual young lawyer," he said.

Toll issue

Meanwhile, Tan said the termination of the Jalan Kuching toll plaza may work in his favour to defend his seat.

"(The toll issue) affected me a lot. I received so many complaints. I hope the sentiment is better now that the toll is gone.

"The government will also be upgrading the area around the Jalan Kuching and Jalan Duta roundabout. It will be a undertaken by the Works Department so no toll will be imposed," he added.

Questioned on the extension of the Jalan Kuching toll collection period by seven years, Tan said the government had initially planned to upgrade other roads in the area but could not do so because of problems arising from the 1997 financial crisis.

The Jalan Kuching toll was introduced in 1985 following the RM89.95 million upgrading of the road. It was to end in 1996 but later extended until January last year.

By Aug 31, 2002, the toll collection stood at RM333.6 million, four times more than the amount invested.

On two other issues affecting voters previously, Tan, a medical doctor by training, said the problem of major floods is largely resolved while a solution has been found to the problem of squatters.

"Flooding was a big problem in 1995 but it has been resolved. There are some 800 squatter houses remaining. We are still relocating them to government housing projects," he said.

Segambut is a mixed constituency with 49 percent Chinese, 35 percent Malay and 14 percent Indian voters. The constituents are spread across diverse income groups.

Polling districts include upper middle class areas such as Taman Tun Dr Ismail as well as the lower income areas of Kampung Sungai Penchala.

PAS threat

Tan also downplayed claims by the opposition that inroads made by PAS in Malay villages in the constituency was responsible for the slicing of Tan's majority by a third in 1999, as compared to his 1995 tally.

"The two factors in play were the (jailed ex-deputy premier) Anwar Ibrahim issue and unhappiness over the Sprint Highway where the quantum of compensation was left dangling.

"Now, the Anwar issue is more or less over while the compensation issue is almost resolved. Eighty percent of the people affected have received their money," he said.

On his potential contender, Tan said he was aware of Parti Rakyat Keadilan's (Keadilan) interest in the seat but has no preference between the two opposition parties.

"DAP has been singing the same old song. They have nothing new to offer or excite the electorate...

"Keadilan is not much of a philosophical-based party. It is based on one man's struggle. (The reformasi sentiment) is not as strong as it was before," he added.

To date, neither Keadilan nor DAP has decisively staked a claim on the Segambut seat.

However, it is widely known that Keadilan had expressed interest in the constituency even prior to the 1999 general election.

The seat subsequently went to DAP which fielded lawyer Manoharan. However, Manoharan may be left out of the election line-up as a result of his involvement in a leadership rift in Selangor DAP last year.