KUANTAN, Nov 19 ― The new Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate for the Tioman state seat will still be from PAS, and the matter will be decided after the seat status is clarified by the Election Commission (EC), said Pahang PN chairman, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah.

"... as soon as possible, because it is unlikely that we will find a new candidate today. That seat is a PAS seat,” he said when met by reporters after casting his ballot at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sungai Talam, here today.

The PN candidate for the Tioman state assembly, Md Yunus Ramli, 61, died at 3.30 this morning at Rompin Hospital, causing EC to announce that the voting process for the state seat today, has been postponed. Tioman state seat is one of the 42 state seats in Pahang.

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

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 the same state seat in the 2018 general election.

Saifuddin, who is also the Indera Mahkota parliamentary seat incumbent, conveyed his condolences to the late Md Yunus’ family, and described his passing as a loss due to the deceased's good personality as well as the potential to lead the area. ― Bernama