JOHOR BARU, April 24 — Johor Barisan Nasional (BN) broke away from a time-honoured convention yesterday after its chairman Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin announced that he will contest two seats in GE14.

Khaled will contest the Pasir Gudang parliamentary seat and the Permas state seat.

But his announcement did not come as a surprise as it was expected by many.

A well-placed source, close to the state administration, said Khaled took it upon himself to contest the Pasir Gudang seat.

"It was not an easy decision to make as there were no strong potential candidates for the Pasir Gudang parliamentary seat.

"Khaled understands that it is a departure from Umno and BN tradition to contest two seats, but he has the support of Pasir Gudang Umno, where he is also the division chief,” said the source.

It was learnt that an earlier plan saw Khaled’s political secretary Mohammad Khairi A. Malek or the former Pasir Gudang Umno youth chief Rohazam Shah Ahmad as potential candidates for Pasir Gudang.

The plan was for either of them to hold the parliamentary seat, while Khaled focused his efforts on his Permas state seat, while providing overall support at the same time.

However, the plan did not materialise and Mohammad Khairi, who is the Umno Gelang Patah division chief, was then selected as the Kota Iskandar state seat candidate instead.

Rohazam Shah Ahmad was later dropped and continued his corporate post at the state-owned Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd (KPRJ).

The source said Khaled needed to take charge of Pasir Gudang’s parliamentary affairs as BN’s incumbent Normala Abdul Samad won by a razor-thin margin of 935 in the 2013 general election.

"The problem for BN was the Johor Jaya state seat fell to the Opposition. We have identified the loopholes and are keen to take it back,” said the source.

Johor Jaya state seat incumbent DAP’s Liow Cai Tung will stand again on May 9. She won with a 1,460-vote majority against MCA’s Tan Cher Puk’s 21,419 for the state seat in the 2013 general election.

However, a state Umno source, said that the so-called "tactical move” by Khaled was also because his position as Johor MB was no longer secure.

"His position as Johor mentri besar is considered shaky and the move to contest a parliamentary seat will allow him to return to the federal government if he wins,” he said, adding that the move was in-line with taking responsibility for the party on both fronts.

Khaled is not the only Umno or BN leader to contest two seats for the upcoming GE14. Kelantan BN chief Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed also broke with tradition when he announced that he will contest the Jeli parliamentary constituency and Air Lanas state constituency.

There is also speculation that Perak BN chief Zambry Abdul Kadir and state MCA chief Dr Mah Hang Soon are expected to be fielded as the coalition’s candidates for both parliamentary and state seats for Perak.