GE14 | BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak has urged those who were unsuccessful in their bid to be BN candidates for the coming general election to accept the coalition's decision, and support those who were nominated.

"I am aware that some BN members who were not chosen are disputing the decisions and are unhappy.

"I hope they will accept the decisions with an open heart and support those who were chosen, while placing BN's interest above all else," he wrote on his blog today.

Nine paragraphs of his blog entry were dedicated to explaining that the choice of BN candidates was made with long-term considerations in mind, as well as the fulfilment of several criteria.

BN needed new, younger and female faces, said Najib, while also maintaining its multiracial lineup. Another factor was that candidates must have local ties, although he admitted there were "one or two" exceptions.

"Candidates were scrutinised since five years ago, not just over the past two months. We evaluated their performance over five years, including how they related to the locals and the support they received.

"The diversity of our candidates was intended to ensure BN won not only small battles but also the war," he said.

There have been various reports of BN members disgruntled at not being nominated - most notably Mohd Puad Zakarshi, who claimed that the candidate selection process was flawed.

Puad had claimed that there are undeserving individuals, those with scandals, or those who had badmouthed Najib among those nominated as BN candidates.

Meanwhile, Najib also repeated his claim that Pakatan Harapan was led by DAP and abetted by Dr Mahathir Mohamad with the main goal of splitting the Malay vote.

He claimed the DAP-led governments in Penang and Selangor had failed to fulfil their promises, despite having ruled the states for 10 years.