Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah has rejected proposals by the Gua Musang Umno division that he be made BN's candidate for the Galas by-election.

The proposal was raised by Mat Yusoff Ghani, who is also the Nenggiri state assemblyperson, and seconded by the division's committee during a special meeting yesterday evening.

umno 2007 tengku razaleigh ku li 081107 When contacted, Mat Yusoff said that Tengku Razaleigh ( left ), who is the division chief and also Gua Musang MP, declined the proposal and urged the division committee to nominate someone else.

The meeting yesterday was called to deliberate on possible candidates.

"Tengku Razaleigh has given the committee the freedom to decide on a candidate, and the decision would later be forwarded to the party's nasional leadership.

"Although the prime minister wants Tengku Razaleigh to decide, Ku Li wants the final decision to be made by the prime minister," said Mat Yusoff.

azlan He said that the division committee was now mulling over the list of possible candidates and a decision would be made over the weekend.

The Galas constituency is among three state legislative assembly seats located under the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency that has been Tengku Razaleigh's stronghold since the 1970s.

Razaleigh has been appointed as the elections director for BN for this contest and tasked to wrest the seat from PAS.

The seat was vacated by Che Hashim Sulaima on Sept 27, who won by a sliver against Umno candidate Mohd Saufi Deraman.