KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 ― There was no need for a formal letter to be sent to Nenggiri assemblyman Datuk Mat Yusoff Ab Ghani for him to vacate the seat after being declared bankrupt, the Kelantan state assembly Speaker said.

Datuk Abdullah Ya'kub said he had made the announcement for Mat Yusoff to vacate his seat only after he was informed by the Insolvency Department of the assemblyman's bankruptcy and failure to resolve it.  

"There is no need for any letter to be sent, he himself knows about it already. He has been declared bankrupt and still has not resolved it.

"If he does resolve it, then there is no problem. I as the Speaker announced that he was not fit to be an assemblyman because he is bankrupt,” he was quoted saying by Sinar Harian today.

Abdullah also dismissed claims by Mat Yusoff that he had been unfairly terminated from the position and only claimed that he was doing his duty according to the laws.

Last Thursday, Abdullah announced that Mat Yusoff was disqualified as the assemblyman for Nenggiri because he had been declared bankrupt by the Selangor Branch of the Department of Insolvency Malaysia on May 28.

Mat Yusoff later said he had asked Abdulah for the letter disqualifying him as the assemblyman but was told that there was none.

He said Abdullah’s use of the media to announce the seat as having become vacant was intended to tarnish the image of Umno and Barisan Nasional, who are the Opposition in Kelantan.