GE14 | Batu Pahat Umno chief Puad Zarkashi is set to announce tomorrow whether he will stick with the party or quit and be a rebel, following Umno's decision not to field him in the Batu Pahat parliamentary seat.

According to Free Malaysia Today, Puad will hold a press conference on this matter tomorrow but has yet to decide where he will be meeting the press.

"I will not comment now. Wait for Thursday. I will make an official announcement.

"I haven't decided where to hold the press conference, whether in Batu Pahat or Kuala Lumpur, I will announce it tomorrow," Puad was quoted as saying.

Speculation had been rife that Puad would step down from his post as Special Affairs Department (Jasa) chief and contest as an independent in the parliamentary seat of Batu Pahat and state seat in Senggarang.

Umno de facto deputy president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is in Batu Pahat today, but it is unclear if he will be meeting Puad to smooth things over.

Previously Zahid had said that Puad's omission was made after a detailed study of the political landscape of the area, which showed that a candidate with better potential to seize the seat from PKR should be deployed instead.

Zahid added that Puad needed to accept the reality that BN was facing an erosion of support in Batu Pahat.

In a Facebook posting last night, Puad shot back at Zahid, saying the latter's comments had diminished Batu Pahat Umno's efforts.

BN had announced that Batu Pahat Wanita Umno chief Haliza Abdullah would be contesting the parliamentary seat.

In the last general election, Puad suffered a shock defeat when he lost the seat to PKR's Mohd Idris Bin Jusi by a 1,732-vote majority.