KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — With just a week before Teluk Intan voters cast their ballots, Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong has rated his chances lower than political novice Dyana Sofea Mohd Daud in the May 31 parliamentary by-election.

Despite a “slight improvement” in local sentiments towards the Barisan Nasional component party, the 53-year-old former MP said there are still a lot of factors that are working against their campaign.

“It’s going to be tough. We are the underdog. I rate my chances as 45 per cent against 55 per cent (for DAP). The margin of defeat in the last round (general election 2013) was quite high with more than 7,000 votes,” the grizzled political veteran was quoted as saying in an interview published today by English-language daily The Star.

Mah, who held the seat for two terms before losing in the watershed 2008 national polls, said BN had entered the race with a handicap from the get-go based on their loss by over 7,000 votes in last year’s general election and the popularity of DAP’s Seah Leong Peng, whose death to cancer paved way for the by-election.

He added that Dyana Sofea “is not a weak candidate” despite her inexperience, pointing to her youth and much-touted attractiveness as major draws for young voters.

“The thing is that she would appeal to youngsters of all races better. I am just saying ‘Do not say that she is a weak candidate.’ I think she is a strong candidate because of her age,” he said of the 26-year-old law graduate.

Mah, a lawyer by trade, noted that the timing of the by-election is yet another point working against his chances as they expect a lot of outstation voters to return home to celebrate the Chinese Dumpling Festival with their families.

Taking the example of last year’s elections, he said the surge in outstation voters had worked against BN as voters who live outside of the constituency typically do not consider local issues when deciding who deserves their vote.

“Normally we have a 70 per cent voting rate in Teluk Intan but last year’s voter turnout went over 80 per cent. Many people came back from Singapore, KL, Selangor and Penang to vote. The thing with outstation voters is, how do you explain local issues to them?

“When we moved around then, we thought the support rate for us among the locals was quite good. But on voting day, the whole town was congested with Penang, Johor, KL, and Selangor car number plates. There was a tsunami of outstation voters. It was so unexpected and we lost.

“These days, a high voter turnout is mostly because of outstation voters. They do not depend on the services we provide as they do not stay here. The floods here do not bother them, the low water pressure doesn’t bother them, so they vote based on a different consideration altogether,” he said.

Mah said he hopes his track record of reaching out and helping the local populace would be enough to sway support back in his favour come polling days, noting that action should count for more than being able to “identify” with the constituents.

“I do hope that we can do better for Teluk Intan in terms of investment, infrastructure, the flood situation and work opportunities. Now young people are migrating elsewhere to work.

“These are the things that a local MP must do as well as tackle national issues. I am a Gerakan president so I already have the platform for national issues. I hope to continue serving Teluk Intan,” he said.