Former Masjid Negara iman Pirdaus Ismail (BN) is taking on Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat.

The pair submitted their nomination papers at the Tuanku Bainun Teacher's Training College nomination centre, Penang today.

Their names were announced by Election Commission official Muzamin Mastak at about 11am. At the same time nomination papers were being accepted at the centre for the three state seats of Seberang Jaya, Permatang Pasir and Penanti.

Pirdaus ( in pink Baju Melayu ), arrived at 8.10am at the centre with about 1,500 of his supporters, while Wan Azizah checked in at 8.45 with a slightly higher number of supporters - about 2,000 , chanting the ' reformasi ' slogan.

Both crowds came under the watchful eyes of more than 70 police and light strike force personnel.

Confident candidates

Later Pirdaus told reporters that "I'm in because I know I'll win."

He was sure that he was set to create history and confident of garnering more votes than his rival. To remarks that he is a first timer in an electoral battle, he replied: "I have been following politics all this while, even when I was an Imam, politicians came to see me."

Pirdaus was formerly secretary of the Umno Permatang Pauh division.

Speaking to reporters, Wan Azizah said her supporters have been very loyal to her.

"They've work for me despite all the odds and difficulties," she said.

The wife of sacked ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was accompanied by her father Wan Ismail Wan Mahmud, daughters and son.

Her son Muhammad Ihsan Anwar told malaysiakini that he and a sister were stopped from entering the nomination centre compound earlier but after some persuasion, they were allowed in.

Wan Azizah's debut as a political candidate came in 1999 when the Anwar issue was at its height. She defeated BN's Dr Ibrahim Saad by a 9,077-vote majority. A total of 38, 563 votes were cast.

This election will be the acid test for her as it would measure her strength as a political leader as well as that of her party six troubled years after Anwar's sacking

Others who filed their nomination papers this morning were Arif Shah Omar Shah (BN-Umno) against Dr Mansor Othman (Keadilan) for Seberang Jaya, Adnan Ramli (BN-Umno) contesting incumbent Mohd Hamdan Abd Razak (PAS) for Permatang Pasir, as well as Abd Jalil Abd Majid (BN-Umno) versus Mohd Hamdan Abd Rahman (PAS) in the Penanti state seat.

The three Umno state candidates are first timers.

Low turnout in Kepala Batas

In Bukit Gelugor, it's a straight fight between BN-MCA's Lim Boo Chang and DAP's Karpal Singh with Keadilan pulling out at the last minute.

The duo submitted their nomination papers at the Chung Hwa Confucius High School. Lim was accompanied by a crowd of 300, and Karpal about 60.

Lim later said that he was not expecting an easy battle against the the DAP veteran, adding that the DAP has neglected the local people.

Bukit Gelugor is a newly-created seat, carved out of the Jelutong parliamentary constituency which Karpal represented for long periods.

In Kepala Batas, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is facing PAS's Khalid Rasid.

The crowd turnout at the nomination centre was lower than expected. According to observers, there were only some 2,000 BN supporters and in the hundreds for PAS.

Three-cornered contests

Meanwhile, three-cornered contests in one parliamentary constituency - Batu Kawan - and three state seats - Sungai Pinang, Bukit Tambun, Bagan Dalam - in Penang were confirmed when nominations closed this morning.

BN-Gerakan Huan Cheng Guan, DAP's A Tanasekharan and Keadilan's Law Choo Kiang will battle it out for the Batu Kawan parliamentary seat.

In Sungai Pinang, the fighting trio are BN-Gerakan Looi Swee Cheang, DAP's Tham Weng Fatt and Keadilan's Jimmy Gay.

In Bukit Tambun, the jousting will among BN-Gerakan Lai Chew Hock, DAP's Ng Yeow Chong and Keadilan's Goh Kheng Huat .

BN-MIC P Subbaiyah will vie against Keadilan's Abdul Razak Hamid and DAP's Lim Hock Seng in Bagan Dalam.

Keadilan, which announced it would like to contest five parliamentary and 16 state seats last night in Penang, also pulled out from six seats today.

The six are parliamentary seats of Bukit Gelugor, the state seats of Ayer Itam, Seri Delima, Dato Keramat, Padang Kota and Padang Lalang.

All these seats are now contested by DAP against the BN.

Commenting on this today, Wan Azizah said she regrets the three-cornered fights when negotiations over seat allocations collapsed.

However, she said the Keadilan pullout could ensure straight fights with the BN for those seats.