Fresh young faces are dominating PKR’s and DAP’s front line-up for the coming polls and all eyes will be on them as they make their election debuts.

Undoubtedly, the ‘star’ among them is Loh Gwo Burne, the man who secretly recorded the infamous Lingam tapes on his hi-tech camera in 2001, tapes which shocked the nation in terms of judicial impropriety.

Met by Malaysiakini today, he denied that he had to be persuaded by PKR de facto leader - Anwar Ibrahim - to contest the coming polls.

Loh, who will be contesting in the Kelana Jaya parliament seat under PKR’s banner, said Anwar had nothing to do with his candidacy adding that if he won, his constituents could be assured that he would not give up his seat to Anwar.

Following nomination day on Sunday, several PKR candidates have publicly said that they would step down at a later date if they won thereby forcing a by-election for which Anwar could contest. The former deputy premier’s six-year ban on contesting elections following his conviction for abuse of power expires on April 9.

Met after a press conference at his Kelana Jaya Community Service Centre, Loh revealed his inspiration to contest the general election came from a journalist of Chinese daily, Sin Chew Jit Poh.

Apparently, the journalist had sent an SMS to him asking what he (Loh) was going to do next now that he was famous because of the Lingam tape scandal.

"I believe that after the Lingam case, I gained a voice. A lot of people thanked me and said I’m doing the right thing." said Loh. Present at the press conference were DAP Subang Jaya state seat candidate, Hannah Yeow and PKR Seri Setia state seat candidate, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

Loh said though Anwar and DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang had asked him to consider participating in the general election, he only finally made up his mind last week.

Asked to comment on his opponent, MCA’S Lee Hwa Beng (left), the birthday boy who turned 34 today replied: "Experience is important, but when you’re in a place for too long, it’s like the Chinese saying, you have become part of the problem, not the solution."

Lee has served the Subang Jaya state constituency for three terms since 1995. He won the Subang Jaya state seat uncontested in 2004.

Loh, who will be campaigning primarily on judicial reform disagreed that his lack of a background in law or politics would work against him.

"I decided to stand up and say ‘no’ to bribery. If you have seen what I have seen and heard what I have heard, you would do what I am doing too. That is why I don’t do law." he said.

On the New Economic Policy (NEP) which he said was a ‘decent idea’, Loh said the policy wouldn’t be fair to the Chinese and Indian communities if it only enriched the people in power.

Loh said, his father, Loh Mui Fah had wanted to contest the election too but withdrew in order to support his son as a team.

The Kelana Jaya constituency has 74,649 registered voters with the racial breakdown of Malays 42.1 % , 37.5 % Chinese and 19.4 % Indians.

Meanwhile, DAP’s candidate for the Subang Jaya state seat, Hannah Yeoh Tseow Suan said her biggest challenge was to convince the people that she’s capable of serving the constituency.

Hannah, 29, (right) said she is racing against the remaining 10-day campaign period to get her views across and hoped voters would trust her with their votes first.

"I’m racing against time in these two weeks. Give me your votes first. We can work out the issues later. I will do what you want me to do in the next five years. Two weeks (of campaigning) is not enough," she said.

She added that although Subang Jaya had all the basic facilities, security and crime were still a problem for residents and she would try to restore public confidence in these areas by offering practical solutions.

Hannah will take on MCA’s Ong Chong Suan for the Subang Jaya state seat.

Another young opposition candidate is Anwar’s private secretary, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (left) who will be taking on Umno incumbent Seripah Noli Syed Hussin at the Seri Setia state seat also in Petaling Jaya.

Nazmi who is the youngest PKR candidate at 24, said his youth was not an issue and that he would be focussing on crime issues being faced by the residents especially at low-cost flats and their surrounding areas.

Nazmi said his campaign slogan was ‘Your voice, your choice’ adding he would launch his campaign video on popular video site YouYube.com tomorrow.