Caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was forced to abort his plan to unveil BN candidates soon after Parliament's dissolution to avoid the risk of internal sabotage, Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported.

The daily quoted Umno sources as saying Najib initially planned to field 40 percent new and young faces and announce the full list of candidates days after he unveiled BN’s election manifesto on April 7.

Najib had apparently decided to ditch the plan, after BN sensed unrest among its core group of Malay supporters.

According to the report, Najib has instead spent much of the last 10 days locked in discussions with BN leaders, especially Umno chiefs who are bristling at the prospect of not being fielded in the 14th general election.

The report claimed many had hoped that Umno’s Youth wing would be sacrificed to stave off potential sabotage and defections by party veterans.

"Only Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin is assured of a seat. We can't afford a collapse of our party machinery, especially in areas where the number of 'white voters' are shrinking," said a party leader.

The report noted sabotage had happened in previous polls when local Umno warlords disagreed with the choice of candidates. They either sabotaged BN's machinery by not turning out to campaign, or by asking their supporters to vote for the opposition.

No update since ‘showdown talks’

On March 18, Najib said he might announce BN candidates earlier than the previous practice of announcing it two or three days before the election.

"We do it earlier this time... (so) if there are problems in certain constituencies, we will have time to resolve it. It will also give time for the candidates to make preparations," said Najib.

Following this, the New Straits Times (NST) quoted a source as saying that Najib would announce BN's full list of candidates on April 2.

Last Sunday, BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said Najib had yet to set a date to reveal the coalition's candidates. But he would be expected to make the announcement a week to 10 days before nomination day on April 28.

On April 16, Najib met BN leaders in what was seen as "showdown talks" to finalise candidates who would be fielded in the various wards. However, no update has been forthcoming since then.

Tengku Adnan said the meeting "was to remind our lawmakers not to sabotage Barisan if they are not fielded this time".

Appointment letters

Yesterday, caretaker deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the task of announcing candidates will instead be delegated to state BN leaders.

However, Kedah BN chief Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah said they were "waiting for confirmation from the party president and letters of appointment to be signed".

Yesterday, Berita Harian quoted Lembah Pantai Umno division chief Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin as revealing that the presentation of appointment letters to Federal Territories BN candidates is slated to be held on Sunday.

According to an invite sent to the grassroots leaders of BN parties, which sighted by Malaysiakini today, the event is dubbed "Launching of Manifesto and Introduction of FT BN candidates".

Several potential candidates told Malaysiakini that they have yet to be informed of the actual date of the presentation of appointment letters.

Singapore's Straits Times also named seats in limbo, including the Langkawi parliamentary constituency, where Najib was allegedly mulling over a replacement for incumbent Nawawi Ahmad, who had swept more than two-thirds of the votes in 2013 election.

The daily also mentioned the political scenario in Sabah, where Najib's trusted lieutenants Salleh Said Keruak and Abdul Rahman Dahlan are rivals. It claimed Abdul Rahman may be moved from Kota Belud to Sepanggar, but the latter’s incumbent, Jumat Idris, is keen to defend his parliamentary seat.