Dr Michael Teo
KUCHING (March 20): Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak will leave its chairmanship vacant until after the next Sarawak state election, said Miri MP Dr Michael Teo.
He said the party at the moment wants to focus and consolidate its energy to prepare for the state election.
“And we think that (after the state election) is a better time, not now. Now we will consolidate and unite, then after the election we will probably end up with the election of a chairman.
“Now we are focusing our energy on the election,” he said.
Teo was speaking at a press conference after attending a Pakatan Harapan (PH) Sarawak meeting this morning, and was asked who would chair PKR Sarawak after the seat was left vacant following the resignation of Julau MP Larry Sng from the party.
Currently, Teo said, PKR Sarawak is being run by a council of elders headed by him, consisting of various leaders in the party, who are working together as a collective leadership to lead the party.
“It is an interim arrangement because the priority now is the state election. The party election we can hold off for a little while. We will address it when it comes to that.
“So in the meantime we have a council of elders who will make decisions and consensus, and we run the party together as a team.
“Whatever it is, we are going to face the state election, we must make preparations, so we are focusing our energy on that one first. That is more important than the party’s election,” he said.
On Feb 28, Sng confirmed that he had tendered his resignation from PKR. He said the decision was made after consulting some of his constituents.
“After consulting my fellow constituents over the past few days, we have made a collective decision for me to announce my resignation from PKR with immediate effect,” he announced on his Facebook page after handing over his statutory declaration in support for the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government.
Also joining him as he resigned from the party was Tebrau MP Steven Choong.
According to Sng, there had been too much political instability over the past one year and this had damaged the country’s economy and the people’s well-being.
He said he believed that the best way forward was to put politics aside towards stabilising and rebuilding Malaysia together.
He said Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin “is doing what is necessary to help Malaysians in this difficult time”.
Given this, Sng said he should play a role to support the PN chairman.