BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has submitted Umno's candidacy for the position of Malacca chief minister to Governor Mohd Khalil Yaakob today. It is unclear how many names Zahid submitted.

At a press conference in Malacca today, the BN chief said he had taken into account the views of all 13 BN assemblypersons before submitting the candidacy.

However, he hinted that others may have also submitted names for the new chief minister.

Zahid said BN will respect whoever is chosen by the governor.

"Whatever is the governor's decision, with the powers vested in him, we will respect it," he said.

Malay Mail reported that Ahmad Zahid had sought the meeting with Mohd Khalil to appeal for Umno-backed candidate, Lendu assemblyman Sulaiman Md Ali, to be given the position, said sources.

The Malacca Pakatan Harapan government collapsed last week after Bersatu and its two assemblypersons quit the coalition.

They have banded together with BN to form a Perikatan Nasional state government with additional support from two other assemblypersons who defected from PKR and DAP.

The previous chief minister, Adly Zahari, was sacked from his post on Monday after refusing to resign upon losing majority support of the state assembly.