IPOH, Jan 19 — Malim Nawar lawmaker Leong Cheok Keng today said that initially, he was not aware DAP had terminated his membership.

He added that it was his friends from the media who had informed him what had transpired.

“Even though ‘all good things must come to an end’, it was with great sorrow and dismay that I received this untimely news.

“I was hoping that it was a bad joke, but it was not. After all, this is the party in which I have spent more than a decade of my life. It is my wish that I could have left on good terms,” he said in a statement.

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Leong also urged all DAP members in his constituency to remain calm and continue the party struggle.

“I would like them to follow the directions of the party’s central leadership and uphold democracy within the party, while rejecting dictatorship and hypocrisy, and supporting good leaders with the true ‘Rocket’ spirit,” he said

He also stressed that the party’s decision to terminate his membership would have no bearing on how his team serves his constituency.

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“I shall play an even more meaningful role in the State Assembly, in terms of the formulation of government policies, in favour of the people in general, and the Chinese community in particular, and in my constituency, in terms of solving local issues,” he added.

Yesterday, DAP’s disciplinary committee chairman Chong Chien Jen was reported as saying that Leong’s party membership had been terminated with immediate effect.

He said this was decided after a meeting on Sunday by committee members.

“DAP’s constitution does not allow any party member to become a member of another political party, and anyone found doing so will have their party membership terminated,” he said.

Chong said that the committee had written to Leong seeking clarification on a news report claiming he had applied to join MCA.

“However, instead of replying to our letter, he told the media that he would not reply to the query,” he said.