Malaysians will brace for another by-election in less than a year when Kuala Terengganu parliamentary by-election will be on Jan 17 with nomination day on Jan 6.

The Election Commission announced this Friday in Kuala Lumpur.

The Kuala Terengganu parliamentary seat fell vacant on Nov 28 following the death of the Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Razali Ismail, 59, who was the Deputy Education Minister.

Rumors are spreading that Pakatan Rakyat will field a PAS candidate probably the party vice-president Mohamad Sabu. Barisan has not indicated who its candidate will be.

Malaysiakini already predicted the minority Chinese voters may very well decide the outcome of the upcoming Kuala Terengganu by-election if the Malay votes are divided equally between Umno and PAS.

The news portal said 88 percent of voters in the area being Malays, Chinese voters make up only 11 percent of the total voters, controlling around 8,800 votes.