SHAH ALAM, Feb 1 ― Barisan Nasional (BN) will not sit out the Kajang by-election despite a warning by a former Selangor mentri besar that winning was “quite impossible”, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said today.

Brushing aside advice by Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo for BN to not waste its resources to contest the seat, Zahid said the coalition has a responsibility to take part in the country’s democratic electoral process.

“Barisan Nasional as a party are of the opinion that if there is a vacancy, we will definitely put a candidate,” he told reporters here.

“In the history of the country’s elections, the only exception is the Penanti seat,” he added, referring to a 2009 by-election in Penang that went uncontested by BN.

Despite echoing suggestions for Umno to contest the seat in place of MCA, the Umno vice president also said that he will respect the decision of Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak on who will run in the election against PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“Datuk Seri Noh Omar, myself, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and the prime minister will go down to every polling station in Kajang, every house.... we will grab the Kajang seat,” said Zahid, who is also home minister.

Veteran Umno leader Mohamad Khir said earlier today contesting the seat would be playing into the hands of PKR, which he said was looking for a punching bag to distract from its current leadership crisis in the state.

He also said there was nothing to gain from contesting the seat as Pakatan Rakyat currently holds 44 of the 56 seats in the Selangor state assembly and is in no danger of losing hold of the administration regardless of who wins the poll.

In a surprise move on Monday, PKR’s Lee Chin Cheh resigned as Kajang assemblyman without giving a reason, paving the way for PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest the by-election.

Rumours persist that Lee vacated his seat to allow Anwar to gain entry into the Selangor state assembly and head off a full-blown power struggle involving party deputy president Azmin Ali and Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

While popular with the general public, Khalid’s penchant for unilateral decision-making in administering the country’s wealthiest state is understood to be a source of dissatisfaction among PR leaders in the state.

Lee won the Kajang seat in the May 5 general election with a 6,824-vote majority.