New faces are expected to dominate Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) candidature to battle the ruling Barisan Nasional in Penang in the March 8 national polls.

Among newcomers expected to be nominated are party state liaison committee chairperson Zahrain Mohamed Hashim, secretary Abdul Malik Kassim, deputy chairperson Tan Hock Leong, state Youth chief Dr Azhar Ahmad, his deputy Ong Chin Wen, state women leader Norhayati Jaafar and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim's political secretary Sim Tze-Tzin.

Of course alongside them would be PKR president and Anwar's wife Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail defending the party's pride and sole parliamentary seat - Permatang Pauh - which she has won twice since 1999.

umno keadilan pkr and penang flag In a loose opposition electoral pact arranged with DAP and PAS to challenge BN in straight fights in all 13 federal and 40 state seats, PKR would contest in five federal and 16 state constituencies

DAP would mainly contest predominantly Chinese-dominated seats while PKR and PAS will concentrate on the Malay-majority seats.

Himalayan task

Besides Permatang Pauh, PKR will contest in Balik Pulau, Bayan Baru (island), Tasek Gelugor and Nibong Tebal (mainland) federal seats, while battling16 state seats in Pulau Betong, Teluk Bahang, Batu Maung, Pantai Jerjak, Batu Uban, Kebun Bunga (island); Bukit Tambun, Bukit Tengah, Machang Bubok, Sungai Bakap, Sungai Acheh, Seberang Jaya, Penanti, Teluk Air Tawar, Bertam and Pinang Tunggal (mainland).

In a line-up yet to be finalised, Zahrain is widely expected to mark his public electoral debut against MCA in Bayan Baru.

It is learnt that PKR has earmarked Bayan Baru as a must-win constituency, besides Permatang Pauh, as the party badly needs a political base on the island to spread its wings.

"The party would give the constituency special attention not only because PKR badly needs a political frontier on the island since the party already has a mainland base in Permatang Pauh," said an observer.

However, Zahrain faces a Himalayan task to fulfill the party’s wish.

In the last general election, MCA's out-going deputy minister Wong Kam Hoong won the constituency, which had 55,407 registered voters in 2004, against PKR's Ong Ping Cheow by 18,851- vote margin.

Other parliamentary contenders would be Yusmaidi Yusoff in Balik Pulau and Tan Tee Beng in Nibong Tebal.

Sources said PKR has not finalised the candidate to contest in Tasek Gelugor as it awaits Umno to unveil its candidate.

Rumours are rife that Umno may drop incumbent Tasek Gelugor MP Mohd Shariff Omar and nominate a close aid of BN chairperson Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

"We are juggling with several candidates. Once we get a clear picture on Umno's candidate, we would finalise ours," said a PKR leader.

Better results

Electoral debutants Abdul Malik, Sim and lawyer VS Raven Tharan would be lined up to contest in Batu Maung, Pantai Jerejak and Batu Uban, which all come under Bayan Baru, respectively.

Balik Pulau PKR chairman Dr Mansor Othman, who lost in the Seberang Jaya state seat in 2004, is expected to be fielded in Pulau Betong while an unknown Abdul Halim Hussain will contest in Teluk Bahang.

State deputy chairperson Jason Ong Khan Lee is the likely choice for Kebun Bunga.

He lost to Gerakan's state executive councillor Dr Teng Hock Nan in Pulau Tikus state seat battle in the previous election by 6,106 votes.

PKR has swapped Pulau Tikus with DAP's Kebun Bunga in their recent pact.

pkr congress 2005 anwar ibrahim In two state seats under Permatang Pauh, PKR is likely to nominate Ramli Bulat for Seberang Jaya and Hazzrie Abu Bakar in Penanti, while under Nibong Tebal; the party is likely to put up Dr Azhar in Sungai Acheh and Maktar Shapee in Sungai Bakap.

In other mainland constituencies, Hock Leong is expected to do the battle in Machang Bubok, Ong is being speculated to contest in Bukit Tengah while Law Choo Kiang, who lost in Bukit Tengah the last time, would contest in Bukit Tambun.

In Umno-controlled state seats in the northern part of the mainland, PKR’s probable candidates would be Norhayati in Teluk Air Tawar, Kepala Batas PKR Women chief Norshiah Md Arshad, another new face, in Bertam and Tasek Gelugor PKR Chief Mahamad Hashim would be fielded in Pinang Tunggal.

After virtually being wiped out from Anwar's home state the last time around, PKR has high hopes that it would fare better this time since the de facto leader would be spearheading their campaign.

The party aims to win three federal and 10 state seats in Penang.

"Anwar's campaign style combined with right strategies and candidates could reap better results this time," said an optimistic party leader.

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