SHAH ALAM, July 3 — The Selangor Legislative Assembly today notified the Election Commission (EC) that the Sungai Kandis state seat had become vacant following the death of the assemblyman Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei.

Speaker Ng Suee Lim said in a WhatsApp message that the notice was sent by hand by an officer at about 1pm after a copy of the death certificate was received from the family of Mat Shuhaimi.

A spokesman of the EC in Putrajaya, when contacted, said the EC would issue an official statement on the notification about the vacant seat.

Mat Shuhaimi, 50, a former political secretary of former Selangor mentri besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, died at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre yesterday of lymphona cancer.

In the general election in May, he retained the seat (formerly known as Sri Muda) for the third term with a majority of 12,480 votes, beating candidates from the Barisan Nasional, PAS and PRM.

Later, in Putrajaya, the EC confirmed it had received the notice on the vacant seat.

EC secretary Datuk Mohamed Elias Abu Bakar said in a statement that the EC would hold a special meeting on July 9 on the matter.

"The meeting will be chaired by EC deputy chairman Tan Sri Othman Mahmood, and it will discuss the dates of the by-election, such as the writ of election and dates for nomination and polling, the electoral rolls to be used and other preparations,” he said.

He said a press conference would be held after the meeting. — Bernama