PUTRAJAYA (July 6): Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad confirmed today that the new deputy defence minister who will be appointed will not be a member of parliament.

Instead, the candidate will be chosen from among Dewan Negara senators, he told reporters after Pakatan Harapan's presidential council meeting here.

"There will be [a deputy defence minister] but the appointment will not be done at this time.

"[The person] will not be among MPs. We need to appoint [the person] as senator first, before appointing [him] as deputy defence minister," said Dr Mahathir (pictured).

However, Dr Mahathir did not reveal the name of the candidate, saying a final decision has not been made.

Additionally, he said the absence of a deputy minister presently will not pose a problem at cabinet level.

"During a cabinet meeting, when a minister is absent, the minister can appoint a representative among other cabinet members.

"The problem arises at the Dewan Rakyat sitting [because] when a minister is absent, [only] the deputy minister should answer questions on behalf of the minister," he added.

In a separate matter, Dr Mahathir said the Sungai Kandis by-election will be contested by candidates from PKR.

The candidate list has not been submitted by Selangor PKR, he said, adding that the candidates will be contesting under the PKR logo and not Pakatan Harapan logo to avoid confusion.

A by-election is to be held for the Sungai Kandis parliamentary seat following the death of elected PKR MP Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei earlier this week.