BARISAN Nasional will field “a young man” in Tanjung Piai, Ismail Sabri Yaakob said, after Pakatan Harapan picked a 66-year-old to defend the seat.

The opposition leader said he could not say when the candidate will be announced as it was in the hands of BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Johor BN chief Hasni Mohammad.

But the opposition choice would be “definitely younger than the PH candidate….a young man,” Ismail told reporters in the Parliament lobby today.

PH yesterday named Karmaine Sardini as its choice.

Ismail said while he did not want to belittle the PH choice of candidate, he said voters could not expect much service from a representative who was in his 60s.

“If we point this out, they (PH) will say even a 95-year old can be prime minister,” said Ismail.

Johor BN chief Hasni yesterday also poked fun at the elderly PH candidate. 

“Their candidate is 66 years old. We hope we don’t have to go through another by-election. It is tiring,”   said Hasni.

He also said BN did not name its candidate yesterday like it said it would because it was a ruse to get PH to reveal who it was fielding first, Hasni said.

“PH said they wanted to announce their candidate on October 30 but when they heard we wanted to name our candidate at 4pm today, they decided to make their announcement at 2pm.  

“They lost. We managed to trick them. We have to be smart.”

BN detractors subsequently claimed BN delayed the announcement because Umno and MCA were at loggerheads over the choice of candidate.

Umno wants to contest the Malay-majority seat that its coalition partner MCA has held since its creation up until the last general election.

MCA wishes to field Wee Jeck Seng, who was re-elected for two terms in Tg Piai  before the seat was wrested from him by PH last year.

Ismail today dismissed talk of infighting over the federal seat.

Earlier today MCA secretary-general Chong Sin Woon also denied the component parties were squabbling over the seat.

He said yesterday’s event was to launch the election machinery and that was indicated in a letter sent out by BN to all its component parties.

“MCA is not surprised at what happened yesterday. The BN Supreme Council has not met and it is the convention that candidates are decided at these meetings.

Only the BN Supreme Council has the power to decide on election candidates, he said.

The Tg Piai by-election was called following the death of its MP Md Farid Md Rafiq of Bersatu 

Saturday is nomination day and polling day is on November 16. – October 29, 2019.