Nenggiri State Seat Is Vacant After Incumbent Went Bankrupt 
KOTA BHARU, June 1 (Bernama) -- The Speaker of the Kelantan State Assembly (DUN) Datuk Abdullah Ya'kub has declared the Nenggiri seat vacant after incumbent Datuk Mat Yusoff Abdul Ghani was declared a bankrupt.
Abdullah said the Kelantan State Assembly received a notification from the Selangor branch of the Malaysian Insolvency Department on May 28 to inform them that Mat Yusoff from Barisan Nasional (BN) was bankrupt.
"Article 31 (1) (b) of the Kelantan state government Constitution declared that a bankrupt who is still unresolved is not eligible to be a Member of the (Kelantan) Legislative Assembly," he said at a press conference at his office in Kompleks Kota Darul Naim here, today.
Abdullah said he would inform the Election Commission (EC) on the vacancy to the Nenggiri seat on Sunday for further action.
In the 13th General Election (GE13), Mat Yusoff beat Mohammad Azihan Che Seman of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and independent candidate Abdul Aziz Mohamed with a majority of 3,849 votes.
Abdullah said he was informed by the Department of Insolvency that Mat Yusoff was declared bankrupt by the Shah Alam High Court on Nov 9, 2016 at the request of a bank and the department.
However, he said he just received a letter from the High Court on the matter on May 28 and from the State Legal Adviser on May 21.
Meanwhile, Kelantan EC director Fakhrul Razi Ab Wahab said he was waiting for the notice of notification on the vacancy of the seat from the Speaker.
He said the Kelantan state assembly has reached a three-year mandate after the last general election on May 13, 2013, and normally a by-election was not necessary.
"However it is up to the discretion of the Kelantan State Assembly Speaker to hold a by-election or not," he said when contacted by Bernama here.
-- BERNAMA
