PUTRAJAYA, April 7 – The Election Commission (EC) is to meet soon to set the dates for nomination and polling for the Rompin parliamentary by-election, EC chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said today.
He said the EC was officially notified today by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia that the seat had fallen vacant.
Rompin MP Tan Sri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis was killed in a helicopter crash in Semenyih last Saturday, along with five other people – principal private secretary to the prime minister, Datuk Azlin Alias; businessman Datuk Tan Huat Seang; Jamaluddin’s bodyguard Razakan B Seran; pilot Clifford William Fournier Jr and operations assistant Aidana Baizieva.
Abdul Aziz said the EC would have to hold the meeting, upon being notified of a vacant parliamentary or state seat, not earlier than four days and not later than 10 days after receipt of the notice.
In the 13th General Election in May 2013, Jamaluddin, who was the chairman of Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA), retained the Rompin seat he had held for 23 years by beating former Wanita PAS chief Nuridah Mohd Salleh by a majority of 15,114 votes.
The EC is meeting tomorrow to set the dates for nomination and polling for the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election.
The seat fell vacant after PKR advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim failed in his appeal for a royal pardon over a five-year jail sentence for sodomy.
– BERNAMA
