IPOH, July 16 — The Perak State Legislative Assembly has been notified of the vacancy of the Slim state seat following the death of the assemblyman Datuk Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib.

Assembly Speaker Datuk Mohamad Zahir Abdul Khalid said today he received the notice on the vacancy this evening from Perak Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman Datuk Saarani Mohamad, who is also chairman of the Perak Umno Liaison Committee.

"I will forward the notice of the vacancy to the Election Commission (EC) tomorrow,” Mohamad Zahir said when contacted by Bernama.

Mohd Khusairi died of a heart attack yesterday evening at the Bentong Hospital after he fainted during a game of golf at the Awana Genting Highlands Golf and Country Resort in Pahang. 

He had been the assemblyman for Slim for four terms since 2004.

Mohd Khusairi had retained the seat with a majority of 2,183 votes in the 14th General Election in 2018 in a three-cornered contest among Bersatu’s Mohd Amran Ibrahim and Muhammad Zulfadli Zainal of PAS.

Perak has 59 state seats. Thirty-two of the seats are held by Perikatan Nasional, with BN (all Umno) having 25 seats; Bersatu, four; and PAS, three.

DAP has 16 seats; Amanah, five; PKR, three; Independents, two; and Gerakan, one. — Bernama