KUANTAN, Nov 19 ― The voting process for Tioman state assembly seat today has been postponed following the death of Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Md Yunus Ramli early this morning.

Pahang Election Commission (EC) director Datuk Zamree Hamli, who informed the matter said the voting process for the Rompin parliamentary seat and the two other state seats namely Muadzam Shah and Bukit Ibam, will however go on as usual.

"The status on the Tioman state seat and developments related to the new date will be confirmed by the EC headquarters,” he said when contacted here today.

The EC had set polling for the 15th general election (GE15) today.

There are 42 state assembly seats in Pahang.

Md Yunus, 61, died at Rompin Hospital, believed to be due to a heart attack, at about 3.30am after being rushed there by family members.

In GE15, the contest for the Tioman state seat is supposed to be a five-cornered fight between Md Yunus, Sulaiman Bakar (Independent), Osman A. Bakar (Pejuang), Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly (Pakatan Harapan) and Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Hussain (Barisan Nasional).

The deceased who was PAS Sungai Puteri division chief had previously contested for the same state seat in the 2018 general election.

Earlier, Rompin parliamentary returning officer Datuk Ahmad Nasim Mohd Sidek informed that the issuance of ballot papers for the Tioman state seat was postponed following Md Yunus’ death. ― Bernama