Little is known about Hanafi Hamat, the third candidate in the high-stakes Permatang Pauh by-election, but the soft-spoken Kelantan-based leader of a small Islamic party is not at all fazed by his two heavyweight rivals.

"I am not here to steal votes,” he told reporters outside the nomination centre at Tuanku Bainun Teachers College. “I am here to offer an alternative to those, who are unhappy with the other two parties.”

permatang pauh by election nomination day 160808 11 hanafi hamat akim candidate The jubah-clad 61-year-old this morning joined the fray for the parliamentary seat left vacant by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who wanted to make way for her husband Anwar Ibrahim to re-enter parliament and make a challenge for the country’s leadership.

Anwar, de facto leader of opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat, and Arif Shah Omar Shah from the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition are the two opponents that Hanafi faces in the three-cornered fight for the seat.

Not just a spoiler

Hanafi, a tanned-skin trader the same age as Anwar, is president of Angkatan Keadilan Insan Malaysia or Akim. A former member of PAS, he left together with a group of other disgruntled leaders in 1995 to form Akim, and now hopes to introduce his own brand politics to the people of Permatang Pauh.

"We will raise national issues, such as security, inflation, political instability, national unity and harmony, and economic prosperity. I am confident we can accumulate many votes against the odds," he said.

Although political observers have put him a distant third behind his big-league rivals, Hanafi is confident he will not be just a “spoiler” and chip only small votes away from Anwar and Arif Shah, but he will actually be able to give them a real run for their money.

In 1990, he contested as an independent candidate for the Tanah Merah state assembly seat, but did not win.

Akim’s principle of governance is similar to the PAS Islamic agenda. Since formation, the party has fielded several candidates in Kelantan during general elections, but has never won.

Watch 5-min video of the nominations

Permatang Pauh: Mother of all by-elections