TUMPAT: Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblyman for Pengkalan Kubur, Datuk Noor Zahidi Omar died early yesterday of liver cancer while on treatment in Guangzhou, China.
He was 57.
Noor Zahidi, who was in his third term as the assemblyman for Pengkalan Kubur, here, died at 5.45am.
Tumpat Umno divisional deputy chief Datuk Rosdi Ab Aziz, who confirmed the death, said Noor Zahidi had been ill since early this year and was diagnosed with cancer in May.
"Noor Zahidi had been told that the cancer was at an advanced stage. He had earlier sought treatment in Kelantan, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and India," he told reporters at Noor Zahidi's house in Pasir Pekan here yesterday.
Noor Zahidi, who was also Kelantan Umno liaison committee deputy chairman and Tumpat division chief, left for treatment at the Modern Specialist Centre in Guangzhou on Aug 14.
He had been accompanied in China by his wife, Datin Siti Mona Abdul Karim, two of his 12 children and several friends.
"Had he been well, they would have returned home from China today (yesterday) on a flight scheduled to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 6.30pm."
Rosdi said efforts were being made to bring back the body with assistance from Wisma Putra and the Malaysian embassy in China.
"We are trying our best to speed up the journey back but no specific time has been confirmed yet," he said.
Noor Zahidi won the Pengkalan Kubur state constituency for the first time in the 2004 general election. He retained the seat in successive general elections in 2008 and then in May 5 last year.
In the last election, he won the seat with 1,736-vote majority against PKR and an independent candidates, Saharun Ibrahim and Izat Bukhary Ismail Bukhary, respectively.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak conveyed his condolences to Noor Zahidi’s family, while other leaders such as Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob praised the late assemblymen for his services to the people.
Rosdi described Noor Zahidi as a father figure for Tumpat Umno members.
“He had been a uniting force in the division and that is why Tumpat Umno does not have problems like elsewhere in the state. It will be hard to replace him," he said.
Meanwhile, the state Election Commission will wait for a formal notification from the state assembly on the vacancy of the Pengkalan Kubur seat following Noor Zahidi’s death.
Kelantan EC director Mohamad Mahmud said the state assembly speaker should submit Noor Zahidi’s death certificate to the commission before it could decide accordingly in calling for a by-election.
"Óur headquarters are already aware of the death. A special meeting will be called to decide on the nomination and polling dates of the by-election once the death certificate is submitted," he said when contacted yesterday.