BUKIT GELUGOR  In less than 24 hours, Bukit Gelugor voters will head to the polls to decide on a replacement for the late Karpal Singh.

Without BN candidates in the race, DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh ( left ) is not expected to face any problem continuing his father’s legacy, who had been an MP there for three consecutive terms.

The Bukit Gelugor polls has been overshadowed by another by-election in Teluk Intan, but is no less interesting thanks to the antics of the three opponents of  first-timer, Ramkarpal.

Among his opponents, the candidate who could garner a decent number of votes is Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) vice president Huan Cheng Guan, seen as the de facto alternative to MCA in the latter’s absence.

Except for a few controversial statements unrelated to the in election such as on Ramkarpal’s sexual orientation, Huan  (white in photo below) does not seem to be gathering much support from the electorate.

“I hope to get my deposit back. Even 12 percent of the vote is good enough,” he quipped when speaking to reporters during one of his campaigns.

Even the way he campaigns echoes MCA’s, giving emphasis to the local Chinese community who form the bulk of the electorate there.

The most famous Bukit Gelugor polls’ candidate is Abu Backer Sidek Mohamad Zan, who considers himself to be the best candidate against Ramkarpal.

Unique credentials for candidate

He become a newsmaker soon after the nomination process after quarrelling with ethnic Indian reporters over a misunderstanding of the word “pariah”, and later his ‘collision’ with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s car made him the talk of Malaysia.

Nevertheless, his instant popularity and gimmicks would not guarantee him support from Bukit Gelugor voters.

At his ceramah near the Bandar Baru Air Itam mosque last night, no more than 30 people showed up, mostly taxi drivers and reporters.

News about Abu Backer's antics has drowned out his campaign message of fighting for justice for taxi drivers, civil servants, and the people of Penang, especially residents of Bukit Gelugor.

“I am contesting to win. I am alone and neutral,” he told Malaysiakini when met in a hospital on Thursday.

This is unfortunate, because his explanations regarding the hudud issue is seen to be clearer and more coherent compared to the other independent candidate, Mohamed Nabi Bux Mohd Abdul Sathar.

The self-proclaimed PAS member is still fumbling over the issue since the day he nominating himself for the Bukit Gelugor contest.

Flying under false flag?

Although PAS denies that Mohamed is their member, he stresses on the hudud issue at every campaign and at every press conference.

His campaign lorry parked at the Malay-majority Taman Tun Sardon plays the PAS theme song daily  all afternoon.

Mohamed plans to make the hudud agenda a reality by 2020, but the timeframe is considered too short because Malays make up only 14 percent of voters.

He is also considered inarticulate with  no election machinery to help him.

However, Ramkarpal’s biggest hurdle to winning a large majority are the people of Bukit Gelugor themselves.

Various issues that have been played up such as racial sentiments, friction within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition, and others, could trim the voter turnout to below last year’s 85 percent.

The latest data from the Election Commission shows that Bukit Gelugor has 82,431 registered voters, with 61,267 (74.33 percent) being  Chinese; 11,913 (14.46 percent) Malay; 8,848 (10.73 percent)  Indian and 403 (0.49 percent) from other ethnic groups.

In the 13th general election last year, Karpal garnered 55,839 votes, triumphing over  MCA’s Teh Geng Yeam by 41,778 votes.