The Office of the Kedah Menteri Besar today denied having issued a list of Barisan Nasional candidates for the next general election, as alleged in a recent WhatsApp message that has gone viral.

Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin, political secretary to the Kedah Menteri Besar, said the WhatsApp message was "an immature gesture" by certain quarters to create sensation and cause confusion in Kedah politics.

He said in a statement that the BN had proper systems and procedures in place and would not use WhatsApp in matters of great importance such as announcing the list of electoral candidates.

The viral WhatsApp message had carried what it claimed to be a preliminary list of Kedah BN candidates for the 15 parliamentary and 36 state seats in the 14th General Election, due by June next year. -- Bernama