Barisan Nasional adviser Najib Razak confirmed the news in a Facebook post.

“My condolences to the family of former Asahan assemblyman Abdul Ghafar Atan, who was also the Alor Gajah Umno chief,” said Najib.

“Throughout his time as an assemblyman, he was concerned about the issues facing villagers and always provided help to those who needed it.

“At the state level, he was also active in pushing for holistic development.”

While Najib did not mention the cause of death, it was reported that Ghafar had tested positive for Covid-19 on Nov 7 and was put under an induced coma at the Melaka Hospital’s intensive care unit two days later.

Ghafar won the Asahan seat in the 2018 general election with a majority of 275 votes. He obtained 5,972 votes, beating PKR’s Zamzuri Arifin (5,667) and PAS’ Azlan Maddin (1,365).

The seat will see a six-cornered fight in Saturday’s Melaka state election.

Apart from former Melaka chief minister Idris Haron (PKR), others in the fray are Fairul Nizam Roslan (Umno), Dhanesh Basil (Gerakan) and independents Mohd Akhir Ayob, Mohd Noor Salleh and Azmar Abdul Hamid.