KUCHING: DAP Sarawak chairman Chong Chieng Jen has said that he is disappointed with Padungan assemblyman Wong King Wei for declining to withdraw his resignation from the party.
“All along, I have placed great confidence in him and the party has treated him well, giving him the opportunity to contest in Padungan in the state elections in 2011 and 2016, a seat considered by many to be the white seat for DAP.
“Also, when he asked by the party to give him a chance to defend the Padungan seat under the party’s ticket in the coming state election, there was no question about it,” he said in a statement today.
Chong lamented that not only did Wong’s sudden resignation disappointed many, both within and outside the party, it has also hurt the party greatly because it came at a time when the state election was near and that he has used SUPP’s narrative to attack the party to justify his resignation.
“For all the trust that the party and I have placed in him, his action is surely a strange way of saying ‘thank you’ to the party that has given him so much opportunity.
“I, as his previous mentor and the state chairman of the party, can’t help but to feel that the trust I placed in him was betrayed,” he said.
Chong also apologised to supporters and voters in Padungan on behalf of the party for having “wrongly placed” their trust on Wong King Wei to represent the DAP in the area.
“I assure our supporters and the voters that despite the setback, the party will move on and continue to fight for the people’s rights and benefits based on our party’s principles,” he added.
In a statement issued last Sunday, Wong announced his resignation from Democratic Action Party (DAP) as well as his refusal to seek re-election for the Padungan seat in the next state election. He cited disillusionment with the direction of the party and how it is managed as one of his reasons for quitting, among others.
Chong, in response, had urged Wong to reconsider his decision to quit the party and not to disappoint his constituents, but was declined by the latter.