Malaysians went to the polls Tuesday in a high-stakes parliamentary election after 10 days of heavy campaigning by its top two contenders.
Previously a sleepy-hollow town, the northern Permatang Pauh constituency captured the attention of the entire nation when opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim announced his decision to contest the seat left vacant by his wife.
Tuesday's election pits Anwar against Arif Shah Omar Shah, the little-known but popular candidate from the ruling National Front coalition.
Anwar is a big favourite to win - the charismatic leader held the seat from 1982-99, when he was forced to quit after being ousted from the government and put on trial for corruption and sodomy.
He was convicted and imprisoned on both charges, which he denied, but was freed after Malaysia's top court overturned the sodomy conviction in 2004.
Permatang Pauh, located in the opposition-ruled state of Penang, has more than 58,000 registered voters, out of which more than 60 per cent are ethnic Malays.
After Anwar was fired from his government post, his wife, Wan Azizah Ismail, represented the constituency from 1999-2008 before stepping down to make way for her husband to possibly re-enter Parliament.
A former deputy prime minister, Anwar sees his imminent entry into Parliament as the next step in his effort to topple the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by mid-September.
In Malaysia's March elections, Anwar led a three-party opposition alliance to major gains, capturing 82 out of 222 seats in Parliament and taking control of five out of 13 states.
Anwar did not run in the March elections due to a ban on holding political office, stemming from his previous corruption conviction. The ban lapsed in April.
Permatang Pauh, located in the northern Penang state, has almost 60,000 registered voters, more than 60 per cent of them ethnic Malays, followed by ethnic Chinese and Indians.
Anwar, a Muslim of ethnic Malay descent, has pledged to erase race-based politics and revive an ailing economy if voted into office. ( dpa )