This follows the incumbent, Mat Yusoff Abdul Ghani, being disqualified due to bankruptcy.

A spokesman for the EC’s Kelantan branch told Bernama they would be notifying the EC headquarters in Putrajaya on the development.

The Kelantan EC is expected to hold a meeting soon to discuss the matter.

By-elections can only be held within three years of the last general election, which was held on May 5, 2013.

“If it is after the three-year period, the decision to hold a by-election depends on the speaker,” the EC spokesman added.

Speaker Abdullah Ya’kub said the letter was hand-delivered to the EC’s Kota Bharu office at 12.40pm today.

“It was my duty to inform the Kelantan EC on the vacancy,” he told Bernama.

The Selangor branch of the Insolvency Department had notified the Kelantan state assembly speaker’s office on the BN assemblyman’s bankrupt status via a letter on May 28.

Yusoff, from Umno, won the Nenggiri seat in the last general election after defeating PKR’s Mohamad Azihan Che Seman and independent candidate Abdul Aziz Mohamed with a majority of 3,849 votes.

Nenggiri falls within the Gua Musang parliamentary constituency.

Nenggiri state seat falls vacant after incumbent declared bankrupt