“Umno is scared, I know, because if it puts up (a candidate), it will lose.

“We are confident of winning regardless of the candidate they are fielding. It would be even better if it is Umno but they chose MCA (to represent Barisan Nasional),” he told reporters after a “Leader with People Session” at SJK (C) Bin Chong here in conjunction with his one-day working visit to Johor today.

Mahathir, who is also the PPBM chairman, was commenting on the choice of MCA’s Wee Jeck Seng, the party’s Tanjung Piai division chief, to contest in the by-election on Nov 16

Wee, 55, was the Tanjung Piai MP for two terms from 2008 to 2018. He also contested for the seat in the May 9, 2018 general election but was defeated by PH candidate Md Farid Md Rafiq by a 524-vote margin.

On Monday, PH named Tanjung Piai PPBM division chief Karmaine Sardini, 66, as its candidate for the by-election. He contested for the Pontian parliamentary seat in GE14 but lost to BN’s Ahmad Maslan by 833 votes.

Earlier, in his speech, Mahathir said Karmaine is capable of retaining the seat for PH.

“I believe the candidate can fulfill his pledges. He is familiar with the constituency and will receive support from the government.

“I am happy to be here. We will work to ensure he is successful. This is our hope,” he said, adding that the opposition is only good at making empty promises.

Mahathir said the by-election is not the place to change government because the pledges of the opposition cannot be met.

“Whoever wins or loses, the government is still PH. Why did I say no change? Because the opposition is only good at making promises but if they win, they cannot meet their promises as they are not the government.

“But if PH wins, we will fulfill our pledges. Our intention is to assist and prosper the people, especially in the rural areas,” he said.

The by-election was triggered by the death of PPBM’s Farid, 42, of heart complications on Sept 21.

Nominations will take place on Saturday.