The circus has begun. Nomination Day today marks the start of the official campaign period for Malaysia's 10th general elections. Filing their nomination papers along with the seasoned politicians are a motley crew of newcomers from non-governmental organisations, trying to make a break for parliamentary and state legislative seats.

Lawyer Sivarasa Rasiah, a director of the human rights organisation Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram), is standing against MCA's Ong Tee Keat in the Ampang Jaya constituency while Zaitun Kasim, vice-president of the All Women's Action Society of Malaysia (Awam), will be running against MCA's vice-president Chan Kong Choy for the Selayang parliamentary seat.

In Melaka, labour activist Chua Tian Chang (popularly known as Tian Chua)will take on MCA vice-president Fong Chan Onn in Selandar while Parti Keadilan Nasional's deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar, an academic and founder of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST), will be contesting against Bandar Tun Razak's incumbent, MCA's Tan Chai Ho.

Meanwhile, MIC heavyweights, party president S. Samy Vellu and party stalwart K.S.Nijhar will be facing formidable challengers in Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj in Sungai Siput and Tenaganita director Irene Fernandez in Subang respectively. Dr Jeyakumar is a central committee member of the yet-to-be registered Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) who has worked extensively with plantation workers and urban settlers in Perak.

This is an unprecedented trend in Malaysian politics. Never before has the country seen such a substantial number of individuals affiliated to NGOs signing up to contest in a general election.

Most of these political debutantes have only recently aligned themselves to political parties. Chandra, Chua and Irene are founding members of Parti Keadilan Nasional which was formed last year while Sivarasa joined Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM) last year.

Zaitun, on the other hand, is running as an independent candidate under the Democratic Action Party (DAP) banner, fielded by the Women's Candidacy Initiative (WCI), a project initiated by a coalition of women's organisations and individuals to encourage the participation of women in politics.

These individuals have previously shied away from the political limelight, preferring to work on social causes instead but many now feel the need to extend their role in advocating for social change via the parliamentary process.

"As part of the NGO community, we were already involved in the political process with our advocacy work and lobbying for policy changes," says Irene, whose organisation works primarily with migrant workers. "After the political developments of September last year, we felt the need to take our involvement to a different level and we felt that change can only be achieved through the party political process."

For Zaitun, the impetus was to return the voice of the people to Parliament and to restore parliamentary democracy to it its origins of being a forum where citizens can voice their concerns and participate in the government through their elected representatives.

The fact that these activists have chosen to ally themselves with the Opposition have drawn flack from the incumbent BN leaders. BN politicians have routinely criticised NGOs for being partial and opposing government policies simply because the government was controlled by the BN. Their alignment with the Barisan Alternatif, the Opposition coalition, has been said to have confirmed the suspicions of the BN leaders.

Irene counters such arguments, stating that the activists have chosen to ally themselves with the Opposition because of weaknesses in the ruling government: "We have come to a time in history where it is clear that the BN government is useless in protecting the rights of the people and in bringing about justice and we want a change of government. It is not a negative alliance but one that is brought together by a common pursuit of truth and justice."

Sivarasa contends that there it is nothing out of the ordinary for NGO activists to engage in the political process. "This is a democratic choice and it is part and parcel of a civil society. There is nothing inconsistent (about our decision) to contest. In any other countries, it will be laughable that someone suggests that a person involved in an NGO cannot stand for Parliament.