‘APRIL 2 JUST MEDIA SPECULATION’

REPORTS that the BN chairman will name the coalition's parliamentary candidates on April 2 are just speculation, says the Prime Minister’s Office.

THE Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has dismissed as speculation news reports that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will announce Barisan Nasional’s 14th General Election (GE14) candidates on April 2.

PMO issued the statement yesterday in response to an article by NSTP, which quoted a source claiming that the announcement would be made at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC).

This would have put it five days before the unveiling of BN’s manifesto at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil on April 7.

“The Prime Minister’s Office wishes to clarify that today’s (yesterday) news report on the prime minister’s announcement of the GE14 candidates on April 2 is mere speculation by the media,” the statement read.

The source had said that 13 senior BN leaders would attend the event.

At the event, Najib would reportedly hand letters of appointment to the candidates chosen to contest in 222 parliamentary seats.

On Sunday, Najib, who is also BN chairman, was quoted as saying that the coalition would break with tradition by announcing the candidates earlier.

The Umno president had said that he would make an earlier announcement, which, at the same time, would not be too early.

“Usually, the (BN candidates) names are announced 48 hours or three days before nomination day, but we would make it earlier this time, but not too early.

“This is because should there be any issue arising in any (parliamentary) areas, we would have enough time to fix them,” said Najib, who is also Pekan member of parliament.