TELUK INTAN, May 24 ― Barisan Nasional (BN) is using its federal powers to charm Teluk Intan voters into its fold, saying that a victory for its candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong could mean the constituency would get a minister as MP.

On the other hand, its leaders said returning the seat to the DAP would not cause a ripple in the country’s political landscape ― BN remains in power in Putrajaya and in Perak, the northern state where Teluk Intan is situated.

Ivanpal Singh Grewal, assistant secretary of the Gerakan election task force in Teluk Intan, said it was the party’s “natural expectation” that Mah, the party president, be appointed minister should he win the by-election on May 31.

“The government won’t change, so if Teluk Intan opts for Mah Siew Keong, besides bringing development, they will also have an effective voice in Parliament,” Ivanpal told The Malay Mail Online.

He said Mah, as federal lawmaker, would speak up on issues of good governance, law and order, democracy and justice.

“It’s not just purely the development card,” said Ivanpal.

Mah recently dismissed DAP’s claims that he would be given a senatorship even if he were to lose the Teluk Intan by-election, which would make it his third consecutive defeat in the federal constituency, calling the contest a “do or die” battle.

Mah had won the Teluk Intan seat in 1999 and 2004, but lost it to DAP’s M. Manogaran and Seah Leong Peng in 2008 and 2013 by 1,470 votes and 7,313 votes respectively.

The 2008 general election, widely dubbed as Malaysia’s “political tsunami”, saw BN lose  its customary two-thirds majority in Parliament.

Last May during Election 2013, the ruling pact struggled to make a comeback but ended up ceding even more seats to Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

The largely-Chinese Gerakan was almost wiped out during the tumultuous polls last year as it won just one federal seat, Simpang Renggam, that is held by Liang Teck Meng.

Tony Pua, DAP’s Teluk Intan campaign director, said Gerakan’s campaign on Mah’s possible Cabinet appointment is one of the opposition party’s key concerns.

“We’ve heard a lot - ‘Give it to him this time. He’ll be minister. Since we can’t ubah anyway, we ubah only in GE14’,” Pua told The Malay Mail Online, using the Malay word meaning “change” in reference to the 14th general election due in 2018.

“And given that this is a swing seat, there are swing voters,” he added.

“Ubah” had been the DAP’s campaign theme in the 13th general election campaign, which nabbed the opposition party 38 federal seats, making it the second-largest party in Parliament after Umno.

Mah said last Wednesday that if elected as Teluk Intan MP, he would seek for things like a futsal hall and better Internet connectivity in the small town, where Internet connection is extremely slow.

Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, BN’s Changkat Jong assemblyman in the Teluk Intan constituency, similarly said voters should support Mah to bring development to the semi-urban area, pointing out that their vote would not drive BN from Putrajaya anyway.

“Since DAP took over, there has been no development because there is no connection to the state or federal government,” Azhar told The Malay Mail Online.

“We need to revitalise the industries in Teluk Intan and build highways to attract investors. Mah Siew Keong is the Gerakan president. If he’s MP, he’ll be made full minister. Of course he’ll be able to bring much development here,” added the Teluk Intan Umno division chief.

Mah will face DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud in a straight fight for Teluk Intan.

The by-election was triggered after DAP’s Seah died from cancer on May 1.

The Chinese comprise the largest group of voters in Teluk Intan at 42 per cent of the electorate. The Malays form 38 per cent, and the Indians 19 per cent of the 60,349-strong electorate.