BN is yet to decide on its candidate for the Galas by-election, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak today.

tengku razaleigh speech 110310 02 "We are still deciding on the candidate. We have discussed it but the decision will be made later," said Najib when asked if Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah ( right ) would be the candidate.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby today, Najib officially announced that Tengku Razaleigh will lead the BN machinery in the election.

He also said that the letter informing the Election Commission (EC) regarding the vacancy has been sent.

"The central machinery will give him (Tengku Razaleigh) our full cooperation," added Najib, who met with Tengku Razaleigh after chairing the BN pre-council meeting in Parliament this morning.

Tengku Razaleigh, who is also the Gua Musang parliamentarian, had earlier agreed to be the BN election director for the Galas by-election slated for Nov 4.

Galas is one of the three state seats in the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency in Kelantan.

The seat fell vacant following the death of PAS assemblyman, Che Hashim Sulaima, 46, from colon cancer on Sept 27.

He had won the seat in the 2008 general election by beating Mohd Saufi Deraman of BN by a majority of 646 votes.

  Candidate named after Umno General Assembly

When met at the Parliament lobby, Tengku Razaleigh confirmed that the the ruling coalition has yet to decide on who will represent the party in the by-election.

"No, no, no. No decision has not been made. (We just talked about) the machinery being ready (in time for) the by-election."

He said the candidate will be announced after the Umno General Assembly on Oct 24 and there is no shortlist of candidates as yet.

Asked if Umno was waiting for PAS to make its decision on its candidate first, Tengku Razaleigh said: "No, we don't wait for anybody... when we fight, that's a loser and there's a winner. We hope we are the winner."

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