Ending weeks of speculation, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang today confirmed that he would be contesting the Ipoh Timur parliamentary in the general election.

"I have been assigned by the party to contest in Ipoh Timor to lead the DAP political offensive to turn Perak into a second frontline state," he said in a statement.

While thanking voters in Tanjong (Penang) who had returned him to Parliament in 1986, 1990 and 1995, Lim admitted that DAP had failed in its two attempts to form the Penang government.

"I (also) want to thank the 24,176 voters in (the Penang state seat of) Bukit Bendera who voted for me in the 1999 general election, although I lost by 104 votes," he said.

The veteran opposition leader will face Barisan Nasional (BN) one-term incumbent Thong Fah Chong in Ipoh Timur and pundits are predicting a tough bout in the primarily urban middle-class constituency.

Thong had earlier described the contest as an ' acid test' which will gauge whether Chinese voters favour the opposition or BN.

"I think it will be a '50-50 chance'," said Thong, who won with a majority of 2,127 votes, or about five percent of votes cast in 1999.

He claimed that Lim was likely to gain "sympathy votes" from traditional hardcore opposition supporters who had abandoned the party in 1999.

Three-cornered fight

There is also a possibility of Ipoh Timor seeing a three-cornered fight as seat negotiations between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) have failed.

Perak DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham said the party has rejected Keadilan's request for three state seats out of Kinta Valley's nine.

"As far as I know, there are no more discussions," he said when contacted.

Keadilan had previously said it would vacate its claims over Ipoh Timor "out of respect for Lim Kit Siang", should the veteran politician decide to contest there.

In exchange, the party asked DAP to hand over four state seats within the Kinta Valley, failing which Keadilan said it would field its Perak chief Dr Lee Boon Chye in Ipoh Timor.

DAP rejected the proposal but yesterday, Keadilan revised its terms and asked for three state seats instead from (three under) Ipoh Timor, Bercham and Jelapang.

This was also rejected by DAP, who described the proposal as "unreasonable".

Ngeh explained that the decision hinged on recent developments between the two opposition parties in Penang, which he said signalled "Keadilan's insincerity" over the seat talks.

Last week, Nibong Tebal incumbent Goh Kheng Huat quit DAP and it was subsequently announced by Keadilan that Goh will be running on its ticket.

Yesterday, Keadilan's Gooi Hock Seng - a former DAP state assemblyperson for Bukit Bendera - indicated that the party has nominated him to stand against DAP deputy chairperson Karpal Singh ( photo ) in the new parliamentary constituency of Bukit Gelugor.