A NEW DUP MLA will have to be co-opted into Christopher Stalford's seat by Monday of next week.
The party only has seven days until it has to confirm its choice for the vacant South Belfast seat, following Mr Stalford's sudden death at the weekend.
A DUP spokesman confirmed party officials will be meeting later this week to discuss possible candidates.
DUP councillor Tracy Kelly, who managed Mr Stalford's constituency office, is tipped as among the front-runners.
However, the party will have the May assembly elections in mind.
Former party leader Edwin Poots, who failed to be chosen as a candidate in South Down earlier this month, could stand for election in South Belfast in May.
Although Mr Poots, an MLA for Lagan Valley, is not known for his strong links to the constituency, he could be chosen as an assembly candidate due to his high profile.
Former South Belfast DUP MP Emma Little-Pengelly, who resumed her career as a barrister in November, is not expected to rejoin politics.
Ms Little-Pengelly had taken up a special advisory role to former first minister Arlene Foster in the Executive Office after losing her Westminster seat to the SDLP’s Claire Hanna in the 2019 General Election.
Speaking in November, Ms Little-Pengelly ruled out running in May’s Stormont elections and said she was looking forward to "new challenges".
The assembly's co-option process was introduced as part of the d'Hondt system because holding a by-election could change the party political balance within a five-member constituency.
The process safeguards smaller parties who would be likely to lose out in a by-election.
The co-option rules for local councils allow parties more time to choose their candidates.
Parties have 28 days to co-opt a councillor, rather than the seven allowed by the assembly.
Last year, then DUP councillor Stephen Dunne was co-opted as a North Down MLA to replace his father, Gordon Dunne, who had stepped down due to serious illness.
Gordon Dunne later died of cancer, aged 62.
When asked to confirm the seven-day co-option period, an assembly spokeswoman said: "Following the sad passing of Christopher Stalford, the speaker will write at an appropriate time to formally inform the chief electoral officer of the vacancy which has arisen in the assembly.
"At that point, it will be for the chief electoral officer to undertake the process to return a successor and communicate the relevant time-frame to the nominating officer of the Democratic Unionist Party."
