KUALA LUMPUR: The unity government is set to announce their candidate for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election tomorrow.
The announcement will be made in a ceremony there at 8pm.
It is understood that a DAP member would be nominated as their candidate as the seat was previously held by Lee Kee Hiong, since 2013.
The decision could see Barisan Nasional component party MCA sitting out the campaign period. MCA had previously announced that it would not support a unity government candidate in the by-election who was not from BN.
However, Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also BN chairman, had said the party would respect the agreement that by-elections would be contested by the party that had previously held the seat.
There were also claims by certain quarters that MIC would boycott the campaign as well but this was refuted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who said MIC had expressed their commitment to supporting the unity government candidate.
Kuala Kubu Baharu is a mixed seat, with Malays comprising 50 per cent of the electorate, followed by Chinese (30 per cent) and Indians (18 per cent).
The state seat has been represented by an ethnic Chinese assemblyman since 2004.
It fell vacant following Lee's death on March 21.
Perikatan Nasional has also yet to announce their candidate but had discussed the matter in a special meeting set yesterday.
The Election Commission (EC) has fixed May 11 for the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.
EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Salleh had said the nomination of candidates for the by-election would be held on April 27, with early voting set for May 7.