Premier Dennis Fentie remains tightlipped about when he will call a byelection to fill the Whitehorse Centre seat in the Yukon legislature and is not ruling out leaving it empty for this year's fall sitting.

The seat for the capital city's downtown riding has been vacant since July 28, when its MLA, New Democrat Todd Hardy, passed away following a four-year battle with leukemia.

According to the territory's Election Act, the premier has 180 days to call a byelection, and Jan. 21, 2011 is the latest Fentie can wait.

"I don't think there's a big issue here of being in a hurry; one should never be in a hurry,” Fentie said of when Whitehorse Centre constituents could expect a byelection.

"The riding is not going to be not represented ... it will be represented very well by the government for sure,” he told the Star today.

Pressed on whether voters in the vacant downtown riding could expect equal representation to their counterparts in other ridings with MLAs, particularly during the fall sitting if no byelection is called, Fentie said Whitehorse Centre residents should not be worried.

"What I'm trying to say is one should not have the misunderstanding that because a seat is vacant that the citizens are going to be ignored; that's not the case.”

Typically, fall sittings of the legislative assembly kick off in the latter half of October, and last year's fall sitting began Oct. 29.

Already, two potential Liberal candidates have announced their intentions to seek that party's nomination to run in the downtown riding and NDP Leader Liz Hanson – currently without a seat in the 18-seat assembly – is a sure bet to get the nod from the riding's New Democrats.

To fill the seat prior to the usual schedule of the fall sitting, Fentie would have to act by the week of Sept. 20 – something Hanson hopes the premier is mindful of.

"I get the real sense that people in Whitehorse Centre think they deserve to have a representative for the fall sitting, and I agree with them,” she said today.

Acclaimed to the NDP's leadership in September 2009, Hanson has had to watch the debate in the legislature unfold from the bleachers as Hardy – the party's outgoing leader – did not resign his seat, choosing to remain Whitehorse Centre's MLA until the end.

Asked earlier this year why he did not step aside to allow Hanson a shot at winning the seat, Hardy explained that he did not want to give Fentie the ability to dictate the terms for the Whitehorse Centre riding; ironically, the current state of affairs.

The premier did rule out forgoing a byelection in favour of a snap general election a full year before his Yukon Party government's mandate expires.

"I think we've been pretty clear as a government, including myself, that our intention has been to do our job until the fall of 2011,” said Fentie.

"(This government) is not one to call snap elections ... we're more focused on carrying out our responsibilities.”