A CITIZEN elected to the Dewan Rakyat is expected to serve Parliament for its full five-year term. But like the life it mirrors, politics is full of uncertainties. Vacancies may often occur as with the tragic death of the MPs from Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar in the helicopter crash in Sarawak.
By-elections: Sixty-nine times since the first meeting of Parliament in 1959, “casual vacancies” in the lower House have arisen and 66 of these necessitated by-elections.
