Parti Keadilan Rakyat (Keadilan) president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today claimed there was an attempt to disqualify her even before the balloting.

She said about 100 unknown motorcyclists carrying Keadilan and PAS flags - and also one DAP flag - followed her as she was on her campaign rounds from Permatang Nibong to Bagan Serai in Permatang Pauh last night at around 10.30pm.

According to her, political party flags are only allowed to be carried by cars not motorcycles.

Under the Election Offences Act, a candidate may face disqualification - even after being returned - if the candidates or their campaigners were found to have breached the Act.

"I was going around from house to house last night and suddenly the group of motorcyclists followed me. I don't know them and they were not from my entourage as well. Immediately, I disassociated myself from them because they seemed quite unruly," Wan Azizah said when met this morning after casting her vote in the Penanti Primary School in Penang.

She arrived at the polling station accompanied by an assistant at about 8.50am.

Police report lodged

Following the incident, she lodged a police report at the Seberang Perai police station at midnight acting upon the advice of her party's representative in the election monitoring team as there was a danger of her being disqualified.

"It seemed like an attempt at getting me disqualified, should a charge of breaching the Election Offences Act be instituted against me," she claimed.

Wan Azizah is expected to retain the Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat. Her opponent is BN's Pirdaus Ismail, a former Masjid Negara imam. The seat was a traditional BN stronghold until Wan Azizah captured it in the last general election.

The wife of sacked ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim won the seat in her maiden attempt during the 1999 polls riding on the wave of public outrage at the treatment meted out to her husband.

Anwar has completed his six-year jail sentence on corruption charges and is seeking bail while awaiting the outcome of his sodomy conviction appeal, for which he was jailed nine years.

No complaint yet

In a related development, Election Commission Penang director Abdul Rahim Md Salleh said no complaints have been filed against any candidate so far.

"The complaints we received so far were only on violating campaigning rules, not against any candidate," he told malaysiakini.

Responding to Wan Azizah's claims, the director said her election might be challenged if the motorcyclists are found to have broken election laws and are the Keadilan president's campaign workers.

He, however, said the law allows any vehicle to carry party flags but must abide by other road regulations.

Abdul Rahim added that the polling in Penang is going on smoothly with no untoward incidents reported so far.