KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — PKR has branded a Sabah state assemblyman a traitor for ditching the party earlier today, describing the move by Kadamaian assemblyman Jeremy Malajad to quit the party as an unethical Barisan Nasional (BN) tactic.
PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang today said that Malajad’s decision to quit all his party positions and to declare himself a BN-friendly independent, was an attempt to stifle the spirit of change in the country’s second largest state.
“The actions of Jeremy Malazad (sic), Kadamaian assemblyman, to announce his resignation from all party posts and from Keadilan today is a major act of betrayal against the people of Sabah and Malaysia,” Chua said in a statement issued on behalf of the party’s secretary-general.
Chua, who is more popularly known as Tian Chua, added that the party will also issue a show-cause letter to Matunggong assemblyman Datuk Jelani Hamdan, who is also speculated to drop out of the party soon.
Earlier statements by Malajad and Jelani, in claiming that they have lost trust in the party leadership, were merely a ruse to justify their planned betrayal of the party, Chua added.
“The act of an assemblyman leaving the party as such is a normal Barisan Nasional modus operandi in Sabah to try and weaken the spirit of the rakyat who are seeking change.
“As such, Keadilan urges the people of Sabah to unite and not allow this Barisan Nasional tactic to divide the spirit of reform, for the sake of a better Sabah,” he said.
Earlier today, Malay daily Utusan Malaysia reported Malajad as saying at a press conference that he quit all his party posts and relinquished his PKR membership to become a BN-friendly independent state assemblyman.
Party insiders who were contacted by The Malay Mail Online confirmed that the issue had long been brewing in PKR’s state leadership, with both Malajad and Jelani said to have been unhappy over the lack of representation of the KadazanDusun-Murut at the state’s top leadership.
Klias assemblyman and former Umno stalwart Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, a Bisaya, is currently Sabah PKR chief while Api-Api assemblyman Christina Liew is his deputy.
Jelani confirmed with The Malay Mail Online that Malajad’s departure was long expected, and said that it is not long before he does the same.
“All the stories you heard about us being unhappy over the absence of the KDM at the top are true. We even raised this with Datuk Seri Anwar and Lajim, but they treated it as a small matter,” he said, referring to opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“It’s confirmed that Jeremmy is out, and I will officially announce my decision to quit this weekend either in Kota Kinabalu or in my constituency of Matunggong... my resignation is expected, but I will be springing a surprise during my announcement,” he said, declining to give anything away.
Malajad is the second opposition assemblyman to go the way of a BN-friendly independent.
The first to do so was Luyang assemblyman and former Sabah DAP chief Dr Hiew King Cheu, who resigned as state party advisor after it was long speculated that he was going to leave the party.
