M Kayveas has a sinking feeling! The Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Taiping parliamentary seat in Perak claims that Gerakan has 'abandoned ship', leaving him to weather the coming storm alone.

He said Gerakan supporters have vacated the town to follow the trail of Taiping incumbent Kerk Choo Ting, who is now contesting the Simpang Renggam parliamentary seat in Johor.

He added that with the complete closure of the Gerakan machinery in the area, he has found the battle to be tough.

"They have abandoned ship," said the ex-senator when met yesterday.

The dejected PPP president added that his campaign team was forced to 'start from scratch' despite Taiping being a traditional ruling front bulwark

"We are trying our best, but are facing a lot of unanticipated problems now that Gerakan has completely closed its operations," he lamented.

Problematic voyage

Kayveas' voyage to Taiping was riddled with problems from the onset.

Initially, he was offered the Umno-controlled Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat in Perak but the Umno division there strongly objected, forcing the BN leadership to do a swap.

They gave Bukit Gantang to Gerakan while its chief Dr Lim Keng Yaik was ' forced ' by BN chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to part with the party's 'blue ribbon' Taiping seat.

The Umno division also relented and agreed to campaign for the Gerakan candidate but demanded that Bukit Gantang be returned in the following polls.

Gerakan's response

Contacted later, Gerakan Perak chief Chang Ko Youn said the question of abandonment does not arise.

"Gerakan has directed all its branches to help out BN candidates wherever they are. There should be no problem," he added.

He said if Kayveas felt there was a lack in support in the constituency, he should inform the party so that it can boost its presence.

During election, Chang added that it was common for "problems to crop up".

However, the Gerakan leader said he was unaware of any migration of grassroots supporters to support the incumbent in his bid for the Simpang Renggam seat.

MCA's help

Meanwhile, Kayveas said MCA was trying its best to help out his campaign but the party was tied down with its own candidates.

Freed from having to work for the Pokok Assam as MCA candidate Ho Cheng Wang won it uncontested, the campaigners are busy with the Aulong state seat under the Taiping constituency.

The PPP president, who is seeking to secure the party's first parliamentary seat since joining BN in 1974, will have to battle two opposition candidates.

They are DAP's Ong Chee Keng and Parti Keadilan Rakyat's (Keadilan) P Annah Dorai.

The voting population in Taiping is 52.6 percent Chinese, 32.3 percent Malay, and 14.4 percent Indians.

In the 1999 election, Gerakan's Kerk defeated DAP candidate Dr Lim Kean Gee by 3,969 votes.