UPDATED KUALA LUMPUR: PAS' Galas assemblyman Che Hashim Sulaima, 48, passed away this evening after a protracted battle with cancer, possibly paving the way for another by-election.
When contacted, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub said Che Hashim had succumbed to his illness at the Islamic specialist centre in Kampung Baru here at about 4.30pm.
Che Hashim, who had colon cancer, was readmitted to the hospital earlier, in serious condition.
The first-term PAS assemblyman was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2009 and went to China last year to undergo chemotherapy treatment.
Salahuddin said Che Hashim's remains would be buried in his hometown of Gua Musang, Kelantan.
“I am very sad by this loss. I express my deepest condolences to the family and I hope they will remain patient during these testing times,” he added.
Che Hashim leaves two widows - Che Busu Junuh and Aida Zakaria, and 11 children.
In the 2008 general election, Che Hashim defeated Barisan Nasional's Saufi Deraman with a 646-vote majority.
Galas is a state seat under the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency, held by Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. The other two state seats under this parliamentary area are Nenggiri and Paloh.
EC to meet soon
Election Commission chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, when contacted, said the EC will hold a meeting in the next 10 days to determine the next course of action.
“I just heard about Che Hashim's death. I have not received anything official from the state assembly speaker,” he said.
“We have to receive an official letter from the speaker, after which we will call for a meeting and then announce the dates for nomination and by-election,” he added.
“By law, the two-third period since the last general election ends between March and May 2011. That means we will have to hold a by-election for Galas,” he said.
Meanwhile state assembly speaker Mohd Nassuruddin Daud said his office would inform the EC on the vacancy of the Galas seat upon receiving Che Hashim's death certificate.
The Galas by-election would be the 12th one since the March 2008 polls. The last by-election – for the Sibu parliamentary seat in May saw DAP taking the seat from BN. Just weeks before that, BN wrestled the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat from PKR.
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