Despite the ongoing negotiations by PKR and PAS to ensure "one to one" fights facing BN in the upcoming Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections, a senior DAP leader believes that such a strategy is neither effective nor relevant to an opposition victory.

"Everybody’s first option is to have a one-to-one contest with Umno/BN in the two by-elections, but this may not be a feasible or even the best political choice," said DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in a speech.

Speaking at the Johor Jaya DAP anniversary dinner in Johor Baru last night, he argued that the opposition has taken the one-to-one route before, the best results achieved by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general elections in May 2013, when PAS ran in both seats.

The election results for the PAS candidates then should be taken as an indication of PAS’ actual strength in these two constituencies, he opined.

Lim noted that in the 2008 polls, Sungai Besar PAS secured 7,988 votes (33.1 percent) against Umno’s 15,337 – losing by a huge majority of 7,349. While in Kuala Kangsar PAS garnered 5,748 votes (32.9 percent) losing to Umno's 11,305 votes by a majority of 5,557.

"However the votes won by the PAS candidates in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar in the 13th general elections on May 5, 2013 were the highest ever achieved by PAS candidates, because they were standing as Pakatan Rakyat and not just PAS candidates," said Lim.

He also pointed out that a one-to-one Umno-PAS fight would not be ideal as the party cannot gain votes but may instead lose them, as he claimed that not only non-Malays but also some Malays will not vote for the Islamic party because of the stigma attached to it in the disintegration of Pakatan Rakyat.

Thus, Kit Siang believed that the one-to-one route has been maximised then, and will not contribute to any defeat of Umno in the two seats now with shortcomings inherent to a PAS candidacy.

Mega scandals ineffective in S'wak polls

The DAP supremo posited that Umno can only be defeated in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar with the advent of a "game changer" to give the two by-elections "unprecedented national significance and importance".

"Instead of one-on-one fights, there real game changer that can help the opposition in the by-elections are Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s twin mega scandals, the RM50-55 billion 1MDB scandal and his RM4.2 billion donation scandal," he explained.

While Lim admitted that the mega scandals were ineffective in the campaign during the recent Sarawak state elections due to the complex nature and lack of apparent local relevance to the electorate, he thinks it may be different in the coming by-elections.

"Will the voters of Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar also find Najib’s twin mega scandals complex and remote subjects of little concern to them or is it possible for Najib’s twin mega scandals to have traction with the voters in the two by-elections?" asked Lim.

The answer is whether the issues can be made relevant to the electorate and if they can relate to it, he opined.

"In which case, whether the by-election is a "one to one" or a multi-cornered contest becomes a secondary issue," concluded the veteran politician.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had raised concerns that PAS' insistence for a one-on-one battle against BN may just be a ploy for the Islamic party to withdraw at the eleventh hour and allow a walkover victory for BN.