No by-election will be held for the Mata Ayer state seat in Perlis following the death of its assemblyman, Wan Badariah Wan Saad, last Saturday, as more than three years have passed since the current state assembly first convened.
Perlis assembly speaker Rus’sele Eizan said the first meeting of the first session of the 15th state assembly was held on Dec 19, 2022, which means the three-year mark was passed on Dec 19, 2025. He said he had sent official notification of the vacancy to the Election Commission today.
Rus’sele said the vacancy would not affect the state government’s majority. “The Perlis assembly currently has 11 members, comprising five from PAS, five from Bersatu and one from Pakatan Harapan, represented by PKR. The state government remains under Perikatan Nasional,” he said.
He added that none of the assemblymen had withdrawn support for Menteri Besar Abu Bakar Hamzah, and the state administration would continue to function as usual under his leadership.
Wan Badariah, 50, won the seat in the 2022 state election as the PAS candidate for PN with 4,419 votes, defeating Barisan Nasional’s Siti Berenee Yahaya, who received 2,398 votes, and PH’s Amran Kamarudin, who received 794. She had previously served as the state tourism, culture, arts and heritage committee chairman under former Menteri Besar Shukri Ramli.