KUCHING, March 12 — Barisan Nasional (BN) has decided to cast a Melanau Christian for the Balingian by-election but will only reveal the candidate’s identity on Saturday, Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem said today.

The announcement would be made by BN deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when he flies in for a visit to Mukah, Adenan added.

“Yes we have decided on the candidate, but I cannot reveal the name till March 15 when Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will come to Mukah.

“All I can say for the moment is he’s a Melanau, a Christian, a local born, and well known to the local people,” Adenan told reporters here when pressed on the candidate’s identity.

The president of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, the 13-party BN’s backbone in resource-rich Sarawak, said the choice was based on a 1963 “Gentlemen’s Agreement”.

Three names fitting that description have been floated. They are: engineer Adrian Langi Dorhat (picture, bottom left); former Sarawak Tourism Ministry permanent secretary Akit Sebli; and former Mukah deputy resident Dr Anthony Valentine Laiseh.

Adrian, a 31-year-old civil engineer who graduated from Universiti Teknologi Mara, works for an engineering firm in Kuching and is the youngest of the trio. Akit and Laiseh are in their late 50s.

Grassroots leaders have voiced preference for a younger representative this time to draw in younger voters.

Sources close to Adrian said he was called to Kuala Lumpur earlier this week to have a private meeting with Adenan, likely about his candidacy.

Adrian could not be reached for comment.

Balingian was vacated after its Melanau Muslim representative and recently retired Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, was appointed the state’s governor.

Under Malaysian law, the head of a state cannot hold any political position.