In a sudden change of heart, DAP today reversed plans to field deputy chairperson Karpal Singh for the Petaling Jaya Utara parliamentary seat, deciding instead to keep him in his Penang home state.

In a brief statement, party secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock said Karpal will be contesting in the Bukit Gelugor parliamentary seat.

"(This is) in keeping with the party's political and strategic objectives to further the DAP's cause for social democracy, justice, freedom and good governance," he added.

Karpal was earlier identified as the candidate that would be given the task of wresting PJ Utara - a former DAP stronghold - back from MCA incumbent Chew Mei Fun.

The constituency (where the DAP headquarters is located) was homeground for the party until it lost the seat in the 1995 general election through the disqualification of its candidate Dr Kua Kia Soong on a technicality.

Attempts to regain the seat in 1999 failed when then-candidate Ronnie Liu was defeated by Chew with a 2,481 vote majority (five percent of total votes).

New seat

Contacted later, Karpal said he agreed with the decision for him to remain in Penang.

"They are right. They have to take everything into account and a final decision has been made. I go along with any decision the party makes on this matter," he added.

Bukit Gelugor is a new constituency created during the Election Commission's redelineation exercise last year.

Formerly a state seat under the Jelutong parliamentary constituency, it was moved to join the Bayan Baru parliamentary constituency in 1995.

Karpal is no stranger to the area having served as its state assemblyperson for 12 years between 1978 and 1990. He was also the member of parliament for Jelutong for four terms until 1999 when he was defeated by Gerakan's Lee Ka Choon by a mere 775 votes out of the 42,207 cast.

Karpal obtained 20,716 votes as opposed to Lee's 21,491.

The veteran DAP leader and prominent criminal lawyer may face MCA's Lim Boo Chang who has been named as a possible contender for the seat. The latter is presently the Dato Keramat state assemblyperson.

Lim for PJU?

Meanwhile, DAP is keeping mum on its candidate for the PJ Utara seat.

Although a potential, previous candidate Liu declined to state with certainty if he is among those being considered.

"It is possible but not confirmed. The final decision will be made tonight by the party," he said when contacted.

Liu - who is the party's Selangor chief - said others being considered are "senior party leaders" but he did not elaborate.

He also did not rule out possibility that the seat could be given to party chairperson Lim Kit Siang - a former MP of the constituency.

Kepong threat

In another development, Lim provided an unexpected glimpse into the party's concerns over its chances in retaining its strongholds in the upcoming general election, scheduled for March 21.

Lim said he was worried that the Kepong parliamentary constituency - a DAP stronghold since 1982 - may fall to Barisan Nasional.

"I have visited the Kepong parliamentary constituency and I am worried that it might fall to BN with far-reaching and long-term consequences. It will be regarded as a ringing endorsement by Chinese Malaysians for Umno and BN's Islamic state declaration," he said in a press statement.

Kepong is the country's parliamentary constituency with the highest percentage of Chinese voters, at 90 percent. Its current MP is DAP's Dr Tan Seng Giaw who will be seeking his sixth term in office against Gerakan's Ma Woei Chyi.

Tan defeated Ma in 1999 with a slim majority of 1,766 votes out of more than 60,000 registered voters.

"There is considerable talk that DAP will lose Kepong with the intense attack by the Gerakan candidate, with his cornucopia of promises about constituency allocations and other election 'goodies' aimed at unseating Tan," Lim said.

Lim said although DAP tried to raise awareness to the implications of the Islamic state declaration by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Sept 29, 2001, the party's message had failed to reach the majority of Malaysians.

A successful bid by BN will put in threat the 1957 Merdeka social contract which upholds the secular identity of the country, he stressed.

"The majority of Malaysians, whether in Kepong or elsewhere in the country, are not aware that such a fundamental issue is at stake in the 2004 general election," he added.

Lim has been named as a likely candidate to stand for the Ipoh Timor parliamentary seat. The constituency is also among those with a high percentage of registered Chinese voters.

However, the veteran politician has repeatedly evaded attempts by reporters to confirm his candidacy for the seat.