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Disillusionment with the party’s leadership and its handling of recent controversies prompted Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung to resign from PKR’s Central Leadership Council, ending an eight-year stint in the party’s top decision-making body.
In a lengthy statement today, Lee said he could no longer continue working with leaders whom he accused of prioritising the preservation of their positions over correcting mistakes within the party.
“PKR today is no longer the PKR that I once knew. The leadership is unwilling to step forward and rectify the party’s mistakes. I can no longer remain in the leadership and work alongside them,” he said.
Despite stepping down from his party post, Lee stressed that he would remain an ordinary PKR member and continue serving as the Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya until Parliament is dissolved.
The two-term lawmaker said his immediate concern was ensuring that several long-awaited institutional reform bills, including legislation on term limits for the prime minister, separation of the attorney-general and public prosecutor’s powers, as well as the Freedom of Information Act, are tabled and passed.
Lee’s resignation comes weeks after access to the MyKhas system for the Petaling Jaya parliamentary constituency was revoked, effectively halting constituency allocation matters and the Mesra Rakyat programme.
READ MORE: First Subang, Now Petaling Jaya: Another PKR MP Claims To Have Lost Access To Constituency Funds — With No Explanation
He said neither the party nor its leadership had provided him and his constituents with a satisfactory explanation, with only a deputy secretary-general issuing a statement attributing the matter to “political choices”.
The former PKR communications director used the occasion to reflect on his 18 years in the party, recalling his days as a research officer in then Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s office and later as the assemblyman for Semambu, a state seat in Pahang.
He recounted surviving on personal savings for 18 months while preparing to contest the 2013 general election and operating his first service centre out of a shared office because he could not afford to rent an entire premises.
Lee also reminisced about selling copies of Suara Keadilan newspapers, organising charity drives, mooncake sales and lantern parades to raise funds for the party at a time when opposition lawmakers did not receive constituency allocations.
He recalled participating in the #KitaLawan movement following Anwar’s imprisonment in 2015 and risking disqualification as an elected representative after being charged under the Peaceful Assembly Act.
“If I had wanted resources and conveniences, I would have remained silent like many others. But that is not who I am.”
Lee insisted that a desire for allocations or positions did not drive his decision, but by principles he had upheld throughout his political journey.
He added that the sacrifices made by his family and supporters over the years could not be repaid, and expressed gratitude for the trust placed in him throughout his political career.
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