Bernama reported that Hasbullah lost consciousness while in a car at his wife’s hometown village in Raub, Pahang, at about 6.30pm today. He was taken to Raub Hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 7pm.

Parliament officials said Hasbullah had attended a meeting at the Dewan Rakyat today. Hasbullah was a vocal MP, often speaking up in the Dewan Rakyat about the rights of Orang Asli in Gerik.

He was elected to the seat at the 2018 general election, defeating a PAS candidate with a majority of over 5,000 votes.

Hasbullah was the head of the Umno Gerik division. In May, he had been appointed chairman of Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd, which is under the housing and local government ministry.

The Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and the Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah, expressed their condolences to Hasbullah’s family.

Muhyiddin remembers his former political secretary

Hasbullah was a political secretary to Muhyiddin Yassin when Muhyiddin was deputy prime minister in 2009.

Muhyiddin said Hasbullah’s death was a great loss.

“As a political secretary, he had played a major role in shaping my political journey, a service that I greatly appreciate to this day. We shared many memories. His passing is a great loss to me,” Muhyiddin said in a posting on his Facebook account.

Muhyiddin said Hasbullah always raised issues and matters related to the people’s interests. He was also a friendly person and this attitude made him an easy person to get along with.