Penang: Independents spring forth

Independent candidates were an unexpected feature at nomination centres in Penang today while Umno vowed to capture the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat from PKR.

The northern state is seen as one of the hottest battlegrounds in this elections.

Although the opposition parties have inked an electoral pact to ensure straight fights in Penang, three-cornered fights however were reported in the Jelutong parliamentary seat and the state seats of Dato Keramat, Sungai Pinang and Perai.

In Permatang Pauh, Barisan Nasional (BN)-Umno candidate Pirdaus Ismail ( photo, far left ) said he is more confident this time around. In 2004, he lost to PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail by 590 votes.

More than 3,000 supporters from PKR and its Barisan Alternatif (BA) ally PAS won the shouting match and flag war this morning as they clearly outnumbered the some 1,000 BN supporters.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, who is making a political comeback, successfully filed his nomination papers for the Bagan parliamentary and Air Putih state seats.

He will be taking on BN-MCA newcomers Song Choy Leng and Tan Yok Cheng respectively.

Lim was forced to skip two parliamentary terms following his conviction under the Sedition Act, which led to a five-year ban on active politics imposed on him.

There are a total of 13 parliamentary seats and 40 state seats in Penang.

Nominations around Penang

In Permatang Pauh , more Wan Azizah was accompanied by her second daughter Nurul Nuha to the nomination centre. She filed her papers at 9.15am while Pirdaus filed his at 9.03am.

For the state seats, the contests will be between Arif Shah Arif Omar (BN-Umno) and Ramli Bulat (PKR) in Seberang Jaya , Abdul Jalil Abdul Majid (BN-Umno) and Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin (PKR) in Penanti , Ahmad Sahar Shuib (BN-Umno) and Mohd Hamdan Abd Rahman (PAS) in Permatang Pasir .

In Bagan , Tan Xin Ying reported that Song nearly lost her seat uncontested to the DAP secretary-general due to technical errors in her nomination forms.

Guan Eng arrived at the nomination centre with some 100 supporters shouting ‘ Hidup DAP ’ (long live DAP) and Makkal Sakti (people’s power). Song was accompanied by some 150 supporters.

Wong Teck Chi reported that the Bukit Bendera parliamentary seat will witness a straight fight between BN’s veteran Gerakan leader Chia Kwang Chye and DAP election strategist Liew Chin Tong.

Chia, who is also deputy information minister, filed his nomination papers at 9.10am while Liew, who is making his electoral debut, filed his papers around 9.30am.

Liew’s supporters brought three huge ‘Rocket Kids’ - DAP mascot - to the nomination centre at Wisma Penyayang

In Jelutong , Ki Mae Heussner reported that another DAP debutant and renowned blogger Jeff Ooi will be embroiled in a three-cornered fight with BN-Gerakan candidate Dr Thor Teong Gee and independent Badrul Zaman ( photo, left ) for the parliamentary seat.

Badrul is also contesting in the Sungai Pinang state seat.

There will also be a three-cornered fight for the Dato Keramat (N29) state seat. The candidates are incumbent BN-Gerakan’s Ong Thean Lye, DAP’s Jagdeep Singh Deo and independent Shahul Hameed.

Jagdeep ( photo, centre ) is the son of DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh.

The Batu Lancang state seat will witness a straight fight between BN-Gerakan incumbent Ng Fook On and DAP’s Law Heng Kiang. In the 2004 polls, Ng defeated Law with a razor-thin majority of 139 votes.

In Bukit Gelugor , Athi Veeranggan reported that MCA veteran Koay Kar Huah will take on incumbent Karpal in a straight fight.

Karpal, who is wheel-chair bound, was accompanied by his wife and about 100 supporters. Koay, who said he will try his best to win the seat from Karpal, had about the same number of supporters.

For the state seats, RSN Rayer (DAP) will take on Loh Nam Hooi (BN-MCA) in Seri Delima , Koh Wan Leong (BN) and Yeoh Soon Hin (DAP) in Paya Terubong , Cheang Chee Gooi (BN-Gerakan) and Wong Hon Wai (DAP) in Air Hitam .

Tsu Koon vs Ramasamy

Elsewhere in Penang, there will be a three-cornered fight in Perai among BN-MIC’s L Krishnan, DAP’s Prof P Ramasamy and independent candidate R Ulaganathan.

It was reported that there some tense moments during the nomination process for the Indian-majority seat.

Outgoing Penang chief minister Dr Koh Tsu Koon also successfully filed his nomination papers for the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat, paving the way for a straight fight with DAP’s Ramasamy.

In Kepala Batas , Umno president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will be challenged by PAS candidate Subri Mat Arshad.

Candidate from the yet-to-be registered students’ party, who earlier vowed to contest against Abdullah, could not be located when the nomination period ended at 10am.

There will be straight fights for the remaining seats - PKR’s Yusmadi Yusoff vs BN-Umno’s Norraesah Mohamad ( Balik Pulau ), BN-Umno’s Nor Mohamed Yakcop vs PAS’ Ismail Salleh ( Tasek Gelugor ), DAP’s Chong Eng vs BN-MCA’s Ong Tang Chuan ( Bukit Mertajam ), BN-Umno’s Zainal Abidin Osman vs PKR’s Tan Tee Beng ( Nibong Tebal ), DAP’s Chow Kon Yeow vs BN-Gerakan’s Khaw Veon Szu ( Tanjong ), BN-MCA’s Ooi Swee Kim vs PKR’s Zahrain Mohamed Hashim ( Bayan Baru ).