EC: No by-election for Kelantan's Melor state seat

 

There will be no by-election to fill the vacant Melor state seat in Ketereh, Kelantan, following the death of its incumbent Md Yusnan Yusof on April 30, according to the Election Commission (EC).

EC secretary Ikmalrudin Ishak (above) said it received notice of the vacancy from Kelantan state assembly speaker Abdullah Ya’akub through a letter dated Aug 8.

The notification was submitted nearly four months after Yusnan’s death as all state laws on elections were suspended under the emergency ordinance from Jan 11 to Aug 1.

He said Article 46(5) of the Kelantan state constitution provides that a by-election must be called within 60 days after a seat was declared vacant.

“If it has been confirmed that the unexpected vacancy happened on a date that is within two years until the dissolution of the state assembly, under Article (3), there is no need to fill the vacancy unless the speaker formally informed the EC in writing to the contrary,” Ikmalrudin said in a statement.

“Therefore, the Kelantan state assembly speaker has informed the EC there was no need to fill the unexpected vacancy.

“In line with that, there will be no by-election called to fill an unexpected vacancy for N23 Melor,” he said.

The 14th general election was held on May 9, 2018, for a five-year term.

Since then there have been 12 by-elections called for five parliamentary and seven state seats, the last being on Aug 20 last year for the Slim state seat in Perak.

Three other by-elections that were supposed to be held last year for the Batu Sapi (Parliament) and Bugaya (state) in Sabah, as well as Gerik (Parliament) in Perak, were postponed and suspended under emergency laws. - Mkini