Ismail was a five-term assemblyman.
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — PAS took a swipe at Umno today following the death of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) party’s Manek Urai assemblyman by suggesting the Barisan Nasional (BN) skip the impending by-election.
The PR party’s election director Datuk Mustafa Ali said today he hoped Umno would also do like what it is doing for the Penanti by-election in Penang by also skipping the vote.
“I suggest Umno does not contest. If they do I think they will lose,” he said.
Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak said BN would not contest the Penanti by-election as it does not want to play to PR’s tune since the vote is being forced by a resignation.
But this has been criticised by some Umno leaders, including former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, because it gives a free ride to PR.
PR leaders have also labelled Umno cowards for staying out of the contest.
Manek Urai assemblyman Ismail Yaacob, a five-term Kelantan PAS lawmaker, died this morning at the Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Bahru, paving the way for the seventh by-election since March last year. He was 60.
He died at 6am after succumbing to a long illness.
Ismail, who first won the seat in 1986, defeated Barisan Nasional’s Mohamed Zulkifli Omar by 1,352 votes in last year’s general election.
The Manek Urai constituency in central Kelantan is almost an exclusively Malay constituency with 99.3 per cent Malay voters. Ismail has represented the seat in all elections except in 2004.
It is one of the four state seats in the Kuala Krai parliamentary constituency, the others being Dabung, Guchil and Mengkembang.
Ismail was also elected the Kuala Krai PAS deputy chief at its annual general meeting recently.
Ismail said in an interview in 1998 that he won his first election in 1986 due to two factors – being in the “right” party (PAS) and his character.
Ismail, who leaves behind 11 children, was the son of a penghulu or village chief in the area, and over the years has helped to improve facilities in his rural constituency.
He also said politics was “in his blood”.
PAS, helmed in Kelantan by Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, retained Kelantan in the general election last year by winning 38 seats. The BN won six seats and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), one.
The last by-election in Kelantan was held in the Pengkalan Pasir state constituency in Pasir Mas in December 2005 following the death of PAS state assemblyman Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar on Oct 31 of that year.
The three-cornered by-election was won by Hanafi Mamat of the BN with a majority of 134 votes. He beat Hanifah Ahmad of PAS and independent candidate Datuk Ibrahim Ali.
Bernama reports that Kelantan State Assembly Speaker Mohd Nassuruddin Daud will notify the Election Commission of the vacant state seat on Monday.
He said that today and tomorrow were the weekend holidays in Kelantan and tomorrow and Sunday the weekend holidays in Kuala Lumpur.
"We will notify the EC of the vacancy on Monday," Mohd Nassuruddin told reporters after paying his last respects to Ismail.
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