KUALA LUMPUR, July 22 — Islamist opposition party PAS will not take part in the Balakong by-election, said secretary-general Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan.

He said his party wanted to dissect the results of its post-mortem examination of the 14th general election results first, prompting it to forego this and the Sungai Kandis poll.

"As such, PAS will not deploy its election machinery to Sungai Kandis, which will instead proceed with strengthening the party for the 15th general election,” he said in a statement.

"On a related note, PAS members in Sungai Kandis are directed to choose based on considerations of Malay/Muslim interests and the future, taking into account the party’s prevailing attitude towards the ruling Pakatan Harapan administration.”

PAS is hostile towards the PH parties, having rejected ties with all four.

The Balakong state seat became vacant after assemblyman Eddie Ng was killed in a traffic accident on Friday.

The Election Commission has not announced a by-election as it is awaiting formal notice of the vacancy from the Speaker of the Selangor assembly, but the seat will be contested at least by DAP and MCA.

PAS yielded in Sungai Kandis to allow Umno a direct contest against PKR. An independent candidate is also in the running, but is not expected to alter the contest tangibly.

Both Balakong and Sungai Kandis are part of the Selangor assembly, which is controlled by PH that holds a supermajority.