Monday, February 9, 2009

Al-Fatihah - Bkt Gantang MP Roslan Shaharum (from PAS) dies - The Star

Feb 9, 2009

BATU GAJAH:

The PAS Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang Roslan Shaharum died of a heart attack on Monday morning.

The 50-year-old had sent his car to a car-wash near his home in Changkat Lallang near here when he complained of chest pains.

He borrowed a bicycle from one of the carwash workers to go to the nearest pharmacy.

His body was found at a slip road by passersby at 11:15am, Batu Gajah OCPD ACP Najib Mohamad said.

Roslan, who leaves behind a wife and 10 children, was formerly the human resource director of Perak Economic Development Corporation.

According to Roslan's daughter Fatimah, 21, the whole family had been in Cameron Highlands for a family outing over the weekend when her father received a call on Sunday evening.

He was summoned to a meeting at the home of former Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin, who has refused Sultan Azlan Shah’s call for him to step down.

“He was there until 1.30 in the morning, and left home at 10am,” Fatimah said.

His wife Safiah Harun, 50, said Roslan had collapsed once about a month ago on an official visit to Taiwan because of a heart problem

Last July, he was named chairman of Perak’s education foundation, Yayasan Perak. The funeral will be held at 6pm Monday at his village in Changkat Lallang, she said.

In last March's election, Roslan defeated Umno treasurer Azim Zabidi by a majority of 1,566 votes. Bukit Gantang is a Malay majority seat with 27% Chinese and 10% Indian votes. He had polled 20,015 votes against Abdul Azim Mohd Zabidi’s (Barisan Nasional) 18,449 votes.

The third candidate was an independent, M. Morgan, who got 872 votes

The by-election which must be held within 60 days will be a referendum on the political situation in Perak. It comes at an awkward time for Umno, with the Umno general assembly due in late March.

The Bukit Gantang constituency has three state assembly seats under it: Trong, Kuala Sapetang and Changkat Jering, whose assemblyman Mohd Osman Mohd Jailu quit PKR last week to become an independent.

His resignation, plus that of two other assemblymen and the defection of a third, paved the way for Barisan Nasional to wrest Perak from Pakatan Rakyat.

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