PUTRAJAYA: The Election Commission (EC) has not yet received any official notification from the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat relating to the vacancy of the Teluk Intan Parliamentary seat, following the death of its member of Parliament, Seah Leong Peng on Thursday.
Its chairman, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said: “Maybe on Monday”.
Under Article 54 (1) of the Federal Constitution, a by-election must be held to fill the vacancy within 60 days from the date the vacancy is determined by the EC.
After that, the EC can hold a special meeting to fix the nomination and polling dates for the by-election.
Seah, 48, died at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, from cancer, at about 7.30am on Thursday.
In the 13th General Election, Seah defeated Datuk Mah Siew Keong (Barisan Nasional) and Moralingam Kannan (independent) with a majority of 7,313 votes in a three-cornered fight.
Meanwhile ,in the next two weeks, Gerakan will hold a meeting to discuss the Teluk Intan by-election, on whether the party would contest or otherwise.
Party president Datuk Mah Siew Keong said in Kuala Lumpur the issue would be discussed thoroughly.
“As far as the party is concerned, we have not made any decision on the matter as (DAP) MP (member of parliament) Seah Leong Peng passed away yesterday (Thursday),” he told Bernama yesterday, when contacted.
His death paved the way for the sixth by-election since last year’s general election (GE) on May 5. — Bernama