PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA - There will be no by-election for the Changkat Jering and Behrang state constituencies in Perak, Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Yusof said.

Based on letters by the two assemblymen to the commission stating that their resignations were invalid, he said the EC had decided at a meeting that Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu (Changkat Jering) and Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi (Behrang) would retain their elected posts.

Abdul Aziz said the commission received a letter from Perak State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar on Monday notifying it of a casual vacancy for the two state constituencies.

The letter, he said, also included Mohd Osman and Jamaluddin's resignation letters.

Shortly afterwards, he said the commission received copies of letters by both men addressed to Sivakumar claiming that their resignations were not valid.

Abdul Aziz said their letters had questioned the Jan 30 date stated on the resignation letters but did not touch on whether they had actually signed the letters or when they were signed.

'The commission held a special meeting this morning (Tuesday) with all seven panel members present to discuss whether to declare the seats vacant and decided that the two assemblymen will retain the posts they were elected to in the last general election.

'This is because the second letters from the assemblymen cast doubts on the resignations so we cannot declare the seats vacant or call a by-election,' he told reporters here yesterday.

Abdul Aziz said the commission considered the matter closed and would not investigate the authenticity of the resignation letters or seek clarification from the two assemblymen involved as the matter was outside its jurisdiction.

'If there is any party that is unhappy with the Election Commission's decision, they can take the matter to court and seek legal redress,' he said.

Abdul Aziz said he was informed that there had been one case in the past where such a resignation was declared invalid, adding that casual vacancies were rare as most vacancies were due to the death of the elected representative.