Wee said the announcement will be made at the BN command centre in Tanjung Piai at 8.30pm.

“Wait for tomorrow. If I tell you now, then there’s no suspense,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.

Putting on a smile, Wee said he is “happy” with the choice of candidate.

He declined to elaborate but said it will be “hard to guess” who the candidate is.

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had been expected to announce the candidate at a gathering in Pontian yesterday, but he did not, although he hinted that the choice will be a “Johor local”.

Umno had been reported as keen to put up a candidate for the seat, which had been won by MCA’s Tanjung Piai division chief, Wee Jeck Seng, in the 2008 and 2013 general elections.

In last year’s general election, Jeck Seng lost the seat to PPBM’s Md Farid Md Rafik by a 524-vote margin.

The by-election, to be held on Nov 16, was triggered by the death of Farid, a former deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, on Sept 21 due to heart complications.

Yesterday, Pakatan Harapan announced that PPBM Tanjung Piai division chief Karmaine Sardini, 66, will be its candidate for the by-election.

Gerakan named its deputy secretary-general Wendy Subramaniam, 38, as its candidate today.

Nomination day is Nov 2.