KOTA BARU – The Election Commission (EC) announced today that there is no necessity for a by-election to fill the vacant Melor state seat in Kelantan as there are less than two years before the end of the state assembly term.
The seat fell vacant when its incumbent Md Yusnan Yusof, from PAS, died on April 30.
EC secretary Datuk Ikmalrudin Ishak said under Article 46(5) of the state constitution, a vacant seat in the Kelantan legislative assembly must be filled within 60 days.
He said that if a contingency vacancy was confirmed within two years from the date of the state assembly’s dissolution, then there was no need to fill the vacancy unless the state legislature’s speaker, in writing, informed the EC otherwise.
“In this regard, the speaker of the Kelantan assembly, Datuk Abdullah Ya’kub has informed the EC that there is no need to fill the unexpected vacancy,” he said in a statement.
Ikmalrudin also informed that based on the emergency proclamation, that was effective from 11 January 11 to August 1 this year, and Section 13 of the Emergency (Essential Powers) Ordinance 2021, the provisions of the constitution of any state relating to elections for state seats have no effect during an emergency period.
Yusnan, 53, died at his home in Melor, Kelantan, due to a heart attack.
He was a two-term assemblyman for the seat after winning it in the 13th general election (GE13).
GE14 was held in May 2018. – Bernama, August 9, 2021
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