BANGI, Nov 2 — Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today he has no intention to entertain any of Umno’s big guns who were left out as Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates in the 15th general election (GE15).

After announcing 121 candidates to be fielded, the Parti Pejuang Tanahair chairman said all the seats are "taken” and therefore there is no vacancy for the Umno leaders.

"There are no plans to meet them, all seats are taken,” he told reporters during the press conference after announcing 121 GTA candidates at Bangi Convention Centre here.

Yesterday, BN dropped caretaker federal territories minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim as well as caretaker communications and multimedia minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, and controversial Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman as candidates.

Shahidan has confirmed he will defend his seat despite being dropped while Annuar has indicated he could also do so, with both hinting they would use the Muafakat Nasional charter as their platform.

GTA named Abdul Razak Abdul Khalek from Pejuang for Shahidan’s Arau seat and Zairol Hizam Zakaria from Parti Bumiputera Perkasa (Putra) for Tajuddin’s Pasir Salak, but none for Annuar’s Ketereh.

GTA today announced that it will contest in at least 121 parliamentary seats in GE15.

When asked about the coalition’s candidate to be prime minister, Dr Mahathir simply laughed it off and said it would be decided if GTA were to win on November 19.

The twice-former PM also said the coalition will launch its election manifesto within the next days.