KUALA LUMPUR: A younger candidate will give Barisan Nasional (BN) a brighter chance of winning the Hulu Selangor parliamentary by-election, according to BN Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

Although he admitted that BN was still in a strong position whoever the candidate, a younger candidate will yield better prospects.

"This is not our personal preference but this is based on the feedback we have received from our rounds in Hulu Selangor," Khairy told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Thursday, April 15.

The Umno Youth chief also promised that his movement will still go all out if an older candidate is announced.

MIC is at odds with its component parties in BN over the choice of candidate. While sources say that party president Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu is in favour of his deputy president Datuk G Palanivel re-contesting the Hulu Selangor seat, other component parties are in favour of a younger candidate MIC Youth deputy chief V Mugilan.

At noon, The Star Online and Malaysiakini.com quoted sources as saying that a compromise candidate, MIC information chief P Kamalanathan, had been picked instead.

Khairy also dismissed suggestions that it was Umno who were trying to force MIC to pick Mugilan instead of Palanivel.

"In BN, we work on a collective decision basis and any candidate selected will be based on all-round agreement by the BN leaders.

"There is no force in BN as the decision will be a joint one by all the stakeholders.

"Anyway, nothing is final until the deputy prime minister announces the candidate at 4pm," said the Rembau member of parliament.

As for the statements by MIC divisions in Selangor calling for Palanivel to be fielded, Khairy said it was just "sabre-rattling".

"At the moment, there is a lot of excitement over who will contest in Hulu Selangor. But once the candidate is announced, I’m sure everyone will settle down to work for the candidate."

(The Edge Daily)