No By-election For Mata Ayer Seat

KANGAR, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- No by-election will be held for the Mata Ayer state seat following the death of its incumbent, Wan Badariah Wan Saad, last Saturday, as more than three years have elapsed since the current Perlis State Legislative Assembly first convened.

Perlis State Assembly Speaker Rus’sele Eizan said the first meeting of the first session of the 15th assembly was held on Dec 19, 2022, meaning the three-year period was completed on Dec 18, 2025.

He said the vacancy would not affect the majority held by the parties forming the state government.

“Currently, the Perlis State Assembly has 11 members, comprising five from PAS, five from Bersatu and one from Pakatan Harapan (PH), representing PKR. The state government remains under Perikatan Nasional (PN), comprising PAS and Bersatu.

“None of the assemblymen has withdrawn support for Perlis Menteri Besar Abu Bakar Hamzah. Therefore, the state administration continues to function as usual under his leadership,” he told Bernama today.

Rus’sele said he had submitted official notification of the vacancy to the Perlis Election Commission (SPR) today.

Wan Badariah, 50, died at Hospital Tuanku Fauziah (HTF) here at 4.26 pm last Saturday.

In the 15th General Election (GE15), she secured 4,419 votes as the PN candidate for PAS, defeating Barisan Nasional's (BN) Siti Berenee Yahaya, who received 2,398 votes, and Pakatan Harapan's (PH) Amran Kamarudin, who garnered 794 votes, with a majority of 2,021.

She had previously served as chairman of the Perlis Tourism, Culture, Arts and Heritage Committee under former Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri Ramli.

-- BERNAMA