GEORGE TOWN, May 16 —  Aware it will likely lose in Bukit Gelugor, known to most as the den of “Tiger of Jelutong” Karpal Singh, little-known Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) has resorted to pleading with voters for an opportunity.

PCM’s candidate Huan Cheng Guan, who had at first said he only hopes to get his RM15,000 deposit back, said he wants an opportunity to prove he can serve the constituency very well.

“PCM doesn’t have any seats in parliament or any state assemblies but DAP has so many seats so I am begging voters to just give me a chance.

“If they let me win this constituency, I will make sure I devote myself fully to this constituency, I will ‘kiss’ Bukit Gelugor,” he said in a brief press conference at his operations centre here.

He promised voters that he will do everything he can for the constituency, especially in tackling the state’s spiralling housing prices.

Huan is in a four-corner fight against DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh Deo and independents Mohamed Nabi Bux Abd Sathar and Abu Backer Sidek.

The Bukit Gelugor seat was vacated after the late MP Karpal Singh was killed in a road crash on April 17.

MCA, which had traditionally held the seat before Karpal won it under DAP’s ticket in 2004, has decided to drop out of the by-election.

There are a total 82,431 registered voters in the constituency.

Observers have predicted that it will be an easy win for DAP as Karpal had retained the seat with a massive majority of 42,706 votes last general election.

Huan had previously admitted that his ultimate hope was to get back his deposit or at least one eighth of the total votes.

Every candidate must submit a deposit of RM15,000 to the Election Commission (EC) when submitting their nomination forms to contest in the by-election.

If the candidate fails obtain at least one eighth of the total votes for the by-election, his deposit will be forfeited by the EC.

Although PCM is relatively unknown to most Penangites, Huan is not a total stranger to many.

“So far, nobody has chased me away or booed at me. In fact, many of them recognised me and some are very friendly to me but we won’t know what they are thinking or how they will vote,” he said.

Huan used to be the Gerakan vice president in 2008 and was also the Batu Kawan MP between 2004 and 2008.

He left Gerakan and co-founded PCM in 2009.

When asked why he chose to contest despite knowing it was a losing battle, Huan said he plans to use this by-election campaign as an opportunity to boost PCM’s image and to publicise issues of concern.