The BN will be naming its candidates for the Merlimau and Kerdau by-elections by Wednesday.

Prime Minister and BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak said the name of the candidate for Kerdau by-election would be announced on Tuesday while for the Merlimau by-election, on Wednesday.

"I have almost made a decision from the list of seven names submitted to me (for both by-elections)," he told a press conference at the Merlimau Polytechnic in Jasin, Malacca, today.

Also present was Melaka Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam.

The Election Commission, which had set Feb 26 and March 6 for nomination and polling respectively for the Merlimau by-election in Melaka, yesterday announced that same dates would also apply for the Kerdau by-election in Pahang.

Najib said it was not a problem for the BN to face simultaneous by-elections citing the recent Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections as examples.

Earlier, he had been given a briefing on preparations by the BN election machinery for the Merlimau by-election. Mohd Ali is the coalition's director for the Merlimau by-election.

Najib said the machinery was in a high state of preparedness but reminded its workers not to be complacent but to work doubly hard to ensure a resounding victory for the BN.

The Merlimau seat became vacant following the death of the incumbent Mohamad Hidhir Abu Hassan, 54, of the BN, on Jan 20.

In the 2008 general election, Mohamad Hidhir had defeated PAS' Jasme Tompang by a majority of 2,154 votes.

The Kerdau seat also became vacant when its incumbent Zaharuddin Abu Kassim, 63, also of the BN, died on Feb 12.

Zaharuddin defeated Hassanuddin Salim of PAS by a majority of 1,615 votes in the 2008 general election.

Meanwhile, when asked to comment on Selangor State Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Kim's voicing dissatisfaction over the Shah Alam High Court's decision that the Port Klang was not vacant, Najib said: "When has he (Teng) ever been satisfied. If we succeed a little he is not satisfied, he is only satisfied when he wins.

Teng had declared the seat vacant on Jan 16 on the grounds that its incumbent Badrul Hisham Abdullah (BN-friendly independent assemblyman) had been absent from state assembly sittings for six months but the assemblyman referred the matter to the court and won the case.

Yesterday, Judge Zaleha Yusof ruled in her chambers that the seat was not vacant and that Badrul Hisham still remained its assemblyman.

She also ordered Teng to pay costs of RM40,000.

- Bernama