Updated, with correction on 25 February, 10.45am.

Candidates and their supporters descended on 222 nomination centres throughout the nation, some since 7am, today (Feb 24) to file their nomination papers for the 2008 General Election. Jacqueline Ann Surin reports from the ground in Lembah Pantai and Danny Lim in Rembau.

LEMBAH PANTAI nomination centre in the Bangsar Sports Complex, Kuala Lumpur

Parliamentary seat nominations:

• Three-term incumbent, (caretaker) Women, Family and Community Development Minister and Wanita Umno deputy chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil

• Nurul Izzah Anwar, first-time candidate, daughter of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de factor leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

• Independent candidate Periasamy Nagarathnam

8am-10am
Candidates and supporters from both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and PKR have arrived and the crowd is growing. At least 1,000 BN supporters are here; multiracial and from mixed age groups. About 400 PKR supporters, who are largely Malays.

10am-11am
Nomination papers are put up for scrutiny and objection.

11am
Scrutiny period is over. Waiting to find out if there are objections. BN supporters singing “Inilah barisan kita,” while PKR supporters are chanting “Reformasi”, “Hidup Anwar”, “Bebas Hindraf”, “Naik gaji polis” and “Tolak BN”.

About noon
Election Commission (EC) announced the three-corner fight between Shahrizat, Nurul Izzah and Nagarathnam after the returning officer announced that the two objections made were rejected.

One objection was against Shahrizat declaring in her nomination form that her occupation was “Minister” even though the government is only a caretaker government until the new government is formed after the polls. The other was against Periasamy, whose address is in Kuala Krai, Kelantan. However, for a parliamentary seat, a candidate does not have to be a resident of that constituency.

Voters: 56,650. Malays (54%), Chinese (25%), Indians (20%), Others (1%)

(With additional reporting from Fahmi Fadzil)

REMBAU nomination centre in Dewan Merdeka Rembau, Negeri Sembilan

Parliamentary seat nominations:

• First-time candidate Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin, son-in-law of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

• First-time candidate Badrul Hisham Shaharin from, who also contested and lost in 2004.

8am-10am
Candidates and supporters gathered at the centre. The candidates went in at 9am. The BN crowd (almost 1,000 people) clearly outnumbers the crowd from PKR and PAS (about 300). The two sides are about 100m apart. Sixteen riot police are standing watch between the two groups, eight near the BN supporters, and eight others standing in front of notice board outside the centre. Three policemen are standing near the opposition.

10am-11am
Nomination papers are put up for scrutiny and objection.

11am
Scrutiny period is over. Waiting to find out if there are objections. BN supporters are chanting “Hidup BN”, “KJ” and “Sedia gempur”. The opposition: “Takdir”, “Allahu-Akhbar”, “Reformasi”, “Kalau kita perintah, kita akan naikan gaji polis” and “Hidup Hindraf”.

About noon
EC announced the two candidates, Khairy and Badrul.

Voters: 61,690. Malays (68.9%), Chinese (15.2%), Indians (15.2%), Others (0.1%)