GE14 | Speculation was rife that Batu Pahat Umno division chief Mohd Puad Zarkashi (above) may contest as an independent candidate.

However, the former Special Affairs Department (Jasa) director-general did not turn up at the nomination centre for the Batu Pahat parliament seat this morning.

Puad had been on the warpath after Johor BN did not name him as a candidate for the seat, which he contested in the 2013 general election and lost.

He had resigned from Jasa and trained his guns on caretaker Johor menteri besar Khaled Nordin and caretaker deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He also described the selection process for Umno candidates as corrupted.

The Umno supreme council member disputed Zahid's claim that Umno had witnessed an erosion of support in the Batu Pahat.

His absence at the Batu Pahat district office - which served as the nomination centre - prompted Pakatan Harapan supporters to chant: "Mana Puad? Mana Puad? Puad hilang, Puad hilang, Puad hilang! (Where is Puad? Where is Puad? Puad's missing, Puad's missing, Puad's missing!)"

Meanwhile, Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was glad that Puad did not turn up at the nomination centre.

“I am grateful (about this), they (Puad) have come to their senses and are aware that BN is a party that will always ensure that the majority's interest is taken care of.

“They are also party members so they know they should be together with us as the party strives to win GE14,” he told reporters in Putrajaya.

BN's candidate for the Batu Pahat seat Haliza Abdullah thanked Puad for placing the party's interests above other matters.

"I want to thank my division chief because, in the end, the party comes first, I hope to have his cooperation," she told reporters after her nomination was confirmed.

The Batu Pahat Umno Wanita chief also said her ties with Puad were not strained, and that she did not expect any trouble from within Umno if everyone puts the party's interests first.

Previously, Puad had implied that Haliza had “personal moral issues”.

Meanwhile, Tengku Adnan, who is better known as Ku Nan, is confident of retaining the Putrajaya parliament seat as voters would recognise his long record of service.

“The other two candidates are outsiders, they only pop up when there are elections. Before this they did not show up or take care of Putrajaya,” he added.

The three-term incumbent would face two academics in the polls - former dean of the UPM Business and Economics faculty Zainal Abidin Kidam from PAS and former UKM political science lecturer Samsu Adabi Mamat from Pakatan Harapan.

Catch Malaysiakini's live updates on Nomination Day here.