Barisan Nasional will contest in Kajang - Muhyiddin

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Barisan Nasional (BN) will wait for the Election Commission (EC)’s announcement notifying the vacancy for the Kajang state seat, which fell vacant after Lee Chin Cheh resigned on Monday.

He said it has been the democratic practice in the country for BN to place its candidate in a vacant seat after EC announces the need for a by-election.

“According to the democratic practices in the country, when a seat falls vacant and the EC announces the need to have a by-election, we will put our candidate there, we cannot simply let it go,” he said.

“No matter who the Opposition names as the candidate for the Kajang state seat, we will only announce our candidate after the EC’s announcement,” he said in a press conference after the Education Ministry’s Annual New Year address at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) on Tuesday.

Earlier on Tuesday, Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim announced the Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s decision to name opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the candidate for the Kajang state seat, if a by-election is called for.

In the 2013 general election, Lee won the Kajang state seat with a majority of 6,824 which saw a six-corner fight with candidates from BN, Berjasa and three other Independent candidates.