Umno's Tenang state rep dies, by-election beckons
Tenang assemblyperson Sulaiman Taha passed away at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital today. He was 59.
Tenang assemblyperson Sulaiman Taha has passed away at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital today. He was 59.
According to former Parit Sulong MP Ruhanie Ahmad, the Johor politician died at 1.10am and will be buried in Labis later today.
Earlier it had been reported that Sulaiman (right), who was also Labis Umno chief, was admitted to Segamat Hospital last month.
On Nov 24, he requested to be transferred to the private hospital in Ampang as his condition worsen.
With his death, the Election Commission will have to call a by-election - the 14th since the 2008 general election - in 60 days.
It is expected that the by-election will be held in January next year before Chinese New Year, which will fall on Feb 3.
The opposition Pakatan Rakyat has won eight out of the 13 previous by-elections. This will be the first by-election in Johor, which is a BN stronghold, since the 2008 general election.
BN controls 50 seats in the Johor state assembly, while DAP has four and PAS, two.
Earlier report - 5.14pm:
Tenang assemblyperson Sulaiman Taha is still in hospital after a month but is in stable condition.
Labis MP Chua Tee Yong, in which the Tenang state seat falls, said that Sulaiman's health is "stable" but refused to comment further.
Earlier it had been reported that Sulaiman, who suffered from diabetes, was admitted to Segamat Hospital when he complained of not feeling well.
And on Nov 24, he requested to be transferred to a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur - the Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital.
An Umno stronghold, Tenang saw incumbent Sulaiman thrashing his PAS opponent Mohd Saim Siran in the 2008 general election by a 2,492-vote majority.
Sulaiman did better in the 2004 election when he scored a whopping 5,517-vote majority also against Mohd Saim.
According to the Election Commission's 2008 statistics, the Tenang constituency's is a mixed rural seat with the following breakdown of voters - Malays (49.66 percent), Chinese (38.13 percent), Indians (12.11 percent) and others (0.10 percent).
Tenang is one of two state seats under the Labis parliamentary constituency. The other state seat, Bekok, has been consistently won by MCA's Tan Kok Hong.
