He said some people claimed there was no problem if he failed to defend the seat, as he would likely be offered a senatorship.

Mah, who is Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, said he was offered a senatorship after he lost in GE13 but he turned it down.

“I nominated another Gerakan member to be a senator. And if I lose in the coming polls, I will decline another offer to be a senator,” he said at a press conference at the Penang Gerakan headquarters today.

Mah held the Teluk Intan seat for two terms from 1999, and then lost it in the 2008 and 2013 general elections. However, he won the seat in the 2014 by-election by defeating DAP newcomer Dyana Sofea Mohd Daud by a razor-thin majority.

Teluk Intan has a diverse mix of races, with 42% Chinese voters, Malays (38%), Indians (19%) and 1% others. There are 61,004 voters registered in Teluk Intan, compared to 60,483 in the last general election.

Mah is optimistic about retaining the seat in GE14 but sees a tough fight ahead of him since it was previously won by the DAP in 2008 and 2013.

He said he and his team in Teluk Intan had been working hard to reach the grassroots to improve the 238-vote majority he got in the by-election.

“We have worked very hard, we are gaining ground, although we think it may be an uphill battle,” he said.

On a separate matter, Mah said the “four to five” seats previously mentioned for a possible seat swap between Gerakan and MCA was still being negotiated at the Barisan Nasional (BN) level.

On Gerakan’s candidates for GE14, he said he has come up with an amended list and sent it to Prime Minister and BN chairman Najib Razak.