Islamist party PAS said it was ready to throw its support behind a candidate from ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim's party in the Ijok by-election.

Parti Keadilan Rakyat, which Anwar advises, has said it would field a candidate in the Ijok by-election in Selangor, called after the representative from the ruling Barisan Nasional died on April 4.

"We are very much keen to support Keadilan because they contested that same seat in 2004," said PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa.

"We also want to ensure that the opposition has a straight fight against Barisan Nasional (the ruling coalition)," Nasharudin said.

"I think it is a good plan and with Anwar on the campaign trail, that will give even more impact to the opposition's candidate," he said.

Meanwhile, PKR supreme council met this morning to decide on its candidate for the by-election amidst intense lobbying by some members within the party to field an ethnic Indian in the racially-mixed seat.

PKR leaders kept the name of its candidate close to their chest at the end of the close-door meeting. They said they would make an announcement in the coming days.

Anwar was to succeed former leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad until 1998, when he was sacked after facing sodomy and corruption charges that landed him in jail for six years.

His sodomy conviction was overturned but the corruption verdict still stands, barring him from standing for public office until April 2008.

Another marker

However, Anwar has said he planned to run for president of PKR - a position currently held by his wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail - when the party holds its annual national congress at the end of May.

The campaigning in Ijok would be another marker in Anwar's comeback to Malaysia's political scene, party officials have said.

The opposition Chinese-dominated DAP on Sunday said that while there had been no formal discussion, the party leaders would meet with Keadilan to help plan its strategy.

The last state election was in 2004, when the PKR lost Ijok by a narrow margin of 1,649 votes to the ruling coalition.

Both the sides have said they would contest the seat. Malaysia's election commission has set April 28 as the date for the by-election.