With the 13th general election expected to be held anytime soon, one of Barisan Nasional's main component member the MCA is considering listing non-party members as its winnable candidates.

NONE The New Straits Times today quoted MCA secretary-general Kong Cho Ha ( left ) as saying the party will not discount the fact that non-member candidates could make it into the nomination list.

“The list is in the final stage now and a series of discussions have been going on for the past six months,” said Kong.

The party only won 15 parliamentary seats in the 2008 election, marking it as one of the worst performance in its 63-year history.

Meanwhile, Berita Harian reported that a former Kuala Lumpur mayor, a banker, corporate figures, leaders of non-governmental organisations, senior management in government-linked corporations and senior government servants are among the outsiders listed by Umno divisions as their candidates in the upcoming election.

NONE Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor ( right ) confirmed this with the Malay language daily.

“This shows the openness of Umno divisions and their spirit to ensure BN wins,” he said, adding the candidates will be vetted to ensure they fulfil the criteria.

“There are divisions which have submitted 20 names each although we asked for only three,” he said.

The daily reported that in Alor Setar 10 new faces comprising professionals and leaders of NGOs have been nominated, while in Kangar almost half of the nominated candidates are new faces.

Both Terengganu government and federal government officers are also among those listed as potential candidates.

The English language daily The Star reported that the vetting of BN candidates will begin after April 30, when all the component parties have submitted their list of candidates.

The daily also reported that in Penang two thirds of the nominations submitted were new faces.

Penang Umno has been given a list of 45 candidates to contest in 15 state seats and 12 nominations for four parliamentary seats.

It also quoted Sarawak Chief Minister and state BN chairperson Abdul Taib Mahmud as saying that he will recommend new candidates for the polls.