Maverick politician Ibrahim Ali's decision to contest the Pengkalan Pasir state seat in Kelantan will add to the tension already evident within PAS and Barisan Nasional.

They had expected a straight fight for the seat vacated by the death of PAS representative Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar from liver cancer on Oct 31.

Ibrahim, the former Umno Pasir Mas division head, has confirmed that he will stand as an Independent candidate in the polls on Dec 6.

Once a deputy minister in the Prime Minister's Department, he said his decision was prompted by requests from Pengkalan Pasir voters for an elected representative who would see to their needs.

The move adds to his electoral forays during which he has hopped from party to party to extend his declining political career - a habit that has earned him the nickname 'Frog Prince'.

"I am a fighter and it has become my responsibility to convey the voices of the people in Pengkalan Pasir to the government," he said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"All the while I have been a fighter for the people of Pasir Mas and again I will live up to expectations."

Ibrahim lost in the 2004 general election in the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat, where he stood as an Independent candidate - and was subsequently sacked from Umno for breaching party discipline.

Not for revenge

He said, however, that his decision to contest in Pengkalan Pasir was not motivated by his sacking from Umno, insisting that his intention is strictly to represent the people.

"The people of Pengkalan Pasir and Pasir Mas who want me to contest believe that only I can represent them, just as I have been doing though the Kelantan People's Action Council," he said.

"I won't include (my work in) the council in my election platform because the people of Pasir Mas already know who Ibrahim Ali is."

Ibrahim, 51, described his chances of winning as "fair, based on feedback from the grassroots, and pledged that he would go all out for victory.

Pressed on where the feedback was obtained, he said it was gathered during a Hari Raya open house celebration that he organised in Pasir Mas on Sunday night.

"Several Umno leaders in Kelantan have expressed their support for my decision to contest because they understand that I'm a fighter that will support the rakyat," he said.

His message to Pengkalan Pasir voters will be to give him the opportunity to continue his "struggle" to serve the constituency.