Sabah PKR Wanita chief Christina Liew has today joined vice-president Jeffrey Kitingan in quitting the party post, dealing yet another blow to the opposition.
Her resignation on Wednesday came less then 12 hours after Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan quit as PKR vice-president.
Liew remains a PKR member and Kota Kinabalu division chief.
When contacted Liew, who also heads the party’s Kota Kinabalu division, said her resignation from the supreme council was due to her disappointment with PKR.
“I have worked very hard in promoting PKR over the past nine years. Since the party has disregarded my contributions, I will bow out with dignity,” she said.
Liew said she could not understand why she was replaced by Datuk Kong Hong Ming as PKR liaison deputy chairman, adding that she considered the move as a “public humiliation.”
She said she had always believed in fairness and transparency in PKR until the appointment of Kong and more recently the promotion state liaison secretary Ahmad Tamrin Zaini as state party chief replacing Azmin Ali.
In announcing his resignation as PKR vice president late Tuesday, Dr Jeffrey said the move came about as he had lost confidence in the party leadership’s decision making process in terms of decisions affecting Sabah.
He said there was no seriousness on the part of the party leadership in taking the views of Sabah PKR leaders.
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PKR vice-president Datuk Jeffrey Kitingan has quit his post, further clouding the leadership turmoil in the party here. He announced this late yesterday after meeting several hours with senior state party leaders.
“I’m quitting the post as I’ve lost confidence in the party’s leadership decision-making process in terms of decisions affecting Sabah,” he told The Star after the meeting.
“There appears to be no seriousness on the part of the party leadership in taking the views of Sabah PKR leaders. As such, I see no reason for me to remain in the party position,” he said, adding that he would be submitting his resignation letter today.
Asked if this move was a precursor for him to quit PKR, Dr Jeffrey said: “Don’t ask me that for now.”
Dr Jeffrey’s move to quit the post came just hours after he announced that he was rejecting his appointment to the party’s newly set up National Integration Council.
He had also said the PKR leadership’s move of making Sabahan Thamrin Zaini the state party chief was unacceptable as it ignored the wishes of the state party leaders.
Dr Jeffrey said he saw no reason for accepting the post in the council which he described as “something that was set up just to make us happy.”
PKR communications director Jonson Chong said on Sunday that the council had been set up to improve relations between Sabah, Sarawak and the peninsula.
Chong also announced that PKR vice-president Azmin Ali had been replaced by state party secretary Thamrin as Sabah PKR liaison chief.
The change came about after Dr Jeffrey disclosed two weeks ago that 18 Sabah PKR division chiefs had signed a memorandum submitted to PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim that Azmin be replaced with a local Sabah leader.
It was reported that Sabah PKR division leaders had suggested that Azmin be replaced as state party chief by either Dr Jeffrey, deputy chiefs Datuk Dr Hamzah Amir or Datuk Kong Hong Ming.
Yesterday, Dr Jeffrey said the request to change the state party chief was not meant to get any Sabahan to replace Azmin, stressing that he had nothing personal against Thamrin.
Instead, he said the party here needed a leader who had the backing of the divisions to galvanise support for PKR in Sabah.
“If we do things like other peninsula-based parties where decisions are made over that side, why should the people choose us? We must be reformed and be democratic,” he added.malaysia ~ If you like this informative post, please subscribe to my full RSS Feed
Zaid Ibrahim who was recently sacked by UMNO has joined PKR. Just after his sacking from UMNO membership, Zaid Ibrahim lamented that UMNO practiced double standards and he stressed that the will not join any opposition party soon but does not rule out doing so later. Apparently he misled everyone and he is now in Anwar group.
From Bernama
Anwar Welcomes Zaid Into Pakatan Rakyat
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday welcomed into the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim who was, on Tuesday sacked from Umno.
Anwar, who is Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor, said PR was comfortable with the principles of Zaid whom he described as being stern in opposing laws said to be contrary to human rights, including the Internal Security Act (ISA).
"We welcome him. It's his choice to discuss with PKR, DAP and PAS leaders. We are comfortable because we have seen him steadfast in defending the principles of human rights and being very committed in his position and stand against the ISA," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby.
Zaid was sacked from Umno yesterday for having attended events organised by several opposition parties.
He had resigned as a minister and senator on Sept 17 after he disagreed with the government's use of the ISA in detaining a journalist, a blogger and a PR Member of Parliament.
-- BERNAMA
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