1996 Geo Prizm Starting trouble

My dad's Geo prism has troubles starting in the morning. If you depress the clutch and turn the key, you hear a click and then nothing. The battery is not dead. My dad has developed a teqnique where he pushes on the right side of the clutch turns the key and turns the steering wheel back and forth by 60 to 90 degrees and this starts it most of the time. Any ideas? My dad thinks it's mechanical but I think it's an eletrical problem.