Confirmed: Nurul Izzah to face Shahrizat

Nurul Izzah, the eldest daughter of PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, will be making her election debut this year.

She will take on Barisan Nasional's (BN) three-term incumbent Shahrizat Abdul Jalil ( right ) for the Lembah Pantai seat.

The contest between the two women will add some spice to the battleground in Kuala Lumpur.

Shahrizat, who is Women, Family and Community Development minister and Wanita Umno deputy chief, has previously beaten former lord president Salleh Abas, who ran under the Semangat 46 banner in 1995.

Four years later, she was victorious again against PKR candidate Zainur Zakaria, a high-profile lawyer.

News that Anwar's 27-year-old daughter has triggered speculation she will step aside later to make way for her father.

"The people wanted her to contest and even though her father from the beginning did not want her to contest, the people insisted," Keadilan deputy president Syed Husin Ali told a press conference.

He sidestepped questions over whether Nurul Izzah would stand down to enable her father to contest the seat in a by-election.

"Not necessarily. If 20 other people offered their seats, we will see which is the best one," said Syed Husin. "There will be a by-election."

Nurul Izzah is one of Anwar's six children with his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is PKR's only lawmaker in parliament, after the party which had previously held five seats suffered a setback in 2004 polls.

Nurul Izzah, who holds a masters degree from Johns Hopkins University in the United States, has been working as Anwar's political coordinator and is married with a baby.

Syed Husin also released the names of the party’s candidates for Peninsular Malaysia for the March 8 polls.

He said the Sabah and Sarawak seat negotiations between opposition parties is ongoing and therefore the full list cannot be released.

He also did not release the names of all candidates but only those vying for parliamentary seats.

Candidates for state seats will be announced by the party’s respective state leadership tomorrow.

'Lingam lensman'

Apart from Nurul Izzah, PKR will also be fielding another political newcomer for the Kelana Jaya parliamentary seat. This is none other than Loh Gwo Burne - the man behind the lens of the controversial VK Lingam video.

Another individual linked to the Lingam scandal will also be fielded by PKR in this elections.

Lawyer Wee Choo Keong - who represents Lingam’s estranged brother Thirunama Karasu - will be contesting in the Wangsa Maju parliamentary constituency.

In the BN stronghold of Pekan in Pahang, PKR Youth vice-chief Khairil Annuar Ahmad Zainuddin will be taking on Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Vying for 66 seats

According to Syed Husin, PKR has yet to decide who to field in two parliamentary seats - Tanah Merah in Kelantan and Tasek Gelugor in Penang.

The party deputy president said the line-up boasts more than 50 percent new faces. "They come from the professional background and we are confident of winning."

"In this elections, we are contesting for more seats compared to the previous elections (in 2004). This time we are contesting in 66 parliamentary seats as compared to 48 in 2004," he added.

Including state seats, PKR will be contesting more than 100 seats - its strongest effort so far as it strives to deprive the ruling BN of its two-thirds majority.

"We are still on track to field more than 100 seats. As of today, we have reached our target of having a one-to-one fight with BN," said the party's vice-president Azmin Ali.

"Keadilan is leading the opposition in terms of the candidates being fielded," he said.

Below is the list of PKR’s top leaders and where they will be contesting:

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - PKR president (Permatang Pauh)

Khalid Ibrahim - PKR secretary-general (Bandar Tun Razak)

Azmin Ali - PKR vice-president (Gombak)

William Leong - PKR treasurer (Selayang)

R Sivarasa - PKR vice-president (Subang)

Tian Chua - PKR information chief (Batu)

Zuraida Kamaruddin - Women’s chief (Ampang)

Shamsul Iskandar - Youth chief (Dungun)

Dr Lee Boon Chye - PKR vice-president (Gopeng)

Wee Choo Keong - MDP sec-gen under PKR flag (Wangsa Maju)

Dr D Jeyakumar - PSM candidate under PKR flag (Sungai Siput)