Muhammad Illiyas, an independent candidate for the 2024 Presidential election, passed away at Puttalam Hospital last night at the age of 78 following a sudden heart attack.
Illiyas, who was a Member of Parliament during the Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga administration, was elected to Parliament from the Jaffna district.
He had been hospitalized two days prior due to a sudden illness.
With Illiyas’s passing, the number of Presidential candidates for the upcoming election has been reduced to thirty-eight.
