Keadilan denied reports that it will be announcing the opposition candidate for Perlis' Indera Kayangan by-election today.

Party secretary-general Sahri Bahri said that the candidate for the Barisan Alternatif will only be announced at the end of the week after consultation with opposition front leaders.

Sahri said that he was still unable to clarify today's report in The Star that PAS president Fadzil Noor expressed disappointment with Keadilan's apparent decision to pre-empt BA's choice of candidate.

"We have not been able to contact Fadzil Noor and therefore, we are unable to verify if he made those comments or if they were the result of a misinterpretation by journalists," said Sahri.

Fadzil was said to have been responding to Keadilan vice-president Azmin Ali's statement last Friday that the party is likely to announce its candidate after today's political bureau meeting.

No official request

Sahri stated that PAS has twice reiterated that it would not be fielding a candidate and that Indera Kayangan would be a Keadilan seat.

"As of today, we have received no official request for it (the seat allocation) to be otherwise," added Sahri.

Keadilan leaders are meeting for the first time today after the death of Barisan Nasional state assembly representative for Indera Kayangan, Khor Liang Tee, last week, following which a by-election must be held within 60 days.

Sahri said that party leaders will be discussing the sentiments and issues at large including technical preparations, campaign strategy and likely candidates for the seat.

"We will be discussing ground reports and our campaign strategy as a contingent from our supreme council already met with state and divisional chiefs in Perlis last week," he revealed.

However, he declined to clarify if the candidate is likely to be Chinese, as mentioned by Penang Keadilan chief Dr Mansor Othman.

"We would not be determining our candidate based on the ethnic composition of voters, but would look at the person who would best serve the interests of the party," said Sahri.

Possible candidates

Last week, party supreme council member Ng Lum Yong said that possible candidates include Penang Keadilan deputy chief Cheah Kah Peng and its candidate for Indera Kayangan in the last general elections, Ko Chu Liang.

A party source later revealed to malaysiakini that the three other likely choices are Ong Eu Leong and Law Choo Kiang, both Penang Keadilan members; as well as Mohd Anuar Tahir, the party's former secretary-general.

It is believed that Anuar is on the list to accommodate Keadilan's recently marginalised pro-Abim faction.

Meanwhile, it is likely that the BN candidate will be chosen from MCA as the Chinese-based party has traditionally held two state seats in Perlis since the 1960s.

The late Khor was an MCA strongman and had held the Indera Kayangan seat for three terms.

Chinese and Malay voters comprise 47.9 percent and 46.4 percent of Indera Kayangan voters, with Indians forming 5.3 percent, and other races, 0.4 percent.