Petaling Jaya Utara incumbent Chew Mei Fun must have prayed very hard... she's been spared a face-off with DAP stalwart Karpal Singh in the coming election.

And Karpal, 64, in anticipation of a tough game away from his Penang home-base, was already well into his political strategy.

So, when the DAP finally announced Monday that its deputy chief is being fielded in Bukit Gelugor, it raised eyebrows.

So, what happened? Only the day before the official announcement Karpal was talking about his plans to retake the former DAP stronghold.

But it appears that the party's state committee had other plans lined up for the Jelutong tiger.

Shutdown

The unexpected about-turn followed the shutdown of the state head office, located near the party headquarters in Paramount Garden, Petaling Jaya, less than a week ago, making a sharp point against Karpal's intention to contest in Petaling Jaya Utara .

"No 27 had been the state operations room since parliament was dissolved on March 4," said a local leader who wished to remain anonymous.

"The closure of the office is an open defiance of the three-member committee's decision to field Karpal in PJ Utara."

Party insiders believe that Karpal's 'forced transfer' was specifically due to the objection raised by state DAP chairperson Ronnie Liu, who has also been eyeing the PJ Utara seat.

Liu lost the seat to Chew, 36, by more than 2,400 votes in 1999.

He obtained 23,122 votes, compared to 25,603 garnered by Chew. A third candidate, from Malaysian Democratic Party - a party formed by a disgruntled DAP leader - obtained 706 votes.

Insiders also said that Liu turned from friend to foe the moment he started questioning the committee's decision after religiously defending its powers and prerogative on candidate selection.

The three members are Karpal, party chairperson Lim Kit Siang, 63, and secretary-general Kerk Kim Hock.

According to a grassroots DAP leader, eight members voted against Karpal and five for him during the state committee meeting last week.

'Total farce'

Last Friday, Liu attempted to distance himself from the debacle by issuing a statement declaring that the state committee was unopposed to Karpal's candidacy in PJ Utara.

Subsequently, a meeting was scheduled for the three-member committee, this time with Liu sitting in.

Sources said the meeting was anything but smooth as Liu openly disagreed over the Karpal issue.

"Kit Siang walked out, leaving Kerk and Karpal to vote. Obviously, the vote was 2:1 in favour of Karpal," said a party source.

"The odd thing here is the fact that both Karpal and Liu had voted for themselves, going smack against the principles of natural justice. I'd say that the whole thing is a farce."

Subsequently, said party insiders, Liu ran a street poll around PJ to gauge voters' sentiments and Karpal's winability.

"He conducted a survey at the pasar pagi in PJ, asking people if the DAP could win with Karpal in PJ Utara."

"This is something very unusual and clearly shows open defiance of the party leadership. Ronnie's actions have really hurt Karpal," added the source.

First defeat

As far as Karpal is concerned, the March 8 announcement settled the issue for him.

Observers noted that this incident may mark Karpal's first defeat within the party.

Keadilan sources, however, today claimed that the DAP has been trying to undermine Barisan Alternatif efforts to field non-Chinese candidates in Selangor.

"They have effectively put a spoke in the wheel of the state opposition machinery," said a party insider.

"They also jammed up the overall seat allocation when, for instance, they decided to field Karpal in PJ Utara. We couldn't move."

Some Keadilan leaders believe that it was an intentional move to ensure a better opportunity for Malaysian Chinese opposition candidates a seat in the Selangor legislature.

Both Liu and Karpal could not be reached for comments at press time.