PKR president Anwar Ibrahim said Lee Chean Chung had stopped attending party meetings and activities for more than a year before resigning as the Petaling Jaya MP today.
Anwar, who is also Prime Minister, said Lee had also been absent from the party’s congress, indicating that he had long distanced himself from party affairs.
‘Oh, he stopped a long time ago. You only found out now? He had not attended party meetings for a long time, and he did not attend the congress either,’ he said.
‘So it is appropriate. If he is no longer interested, there is no problem. Go in a good way.
‘Thank you for his contributions all this while,’ Anwar said.
Anwar was speaking after visiting the former Royal Malaysian Air Force quarters in Sungai Besi, where he was briefed on a development project by KLCC Development Sdn Bhd head Wan Shamilah Wan Muhammad Saidi.
Lee resigns after three-year PKR suspension
Lee announced his resignation as Petaling Jaya MP today after PKR suspended his membership for three years.
He said he would formally resign from PKR on Monday.
Lee had submitted his resignation letter to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul yesterday.
In announcing his decision, Lee said he could not accept continuing to receive an MP’s salary while being unable to carry out his duties and speak on issues affecting his constituents.
He cited several issues he had raised, including the proposed Urban Renewal Act, foreign worker management, the Sales and Service Tax and university admission for STPM holders.
Lee’s resignation leaves the Petaling Jaya parliamentary seat vacant, although he said his parliamentary service centre would continue operating to serve the local community.
Anwar also said development projects in Petaling Jaya would continue despite the change involving the constituency’s elected representative.
Tensions between Lee and PKR had been building
The resignation followed tensions between Lee and PKR over his involvement in activities linked to Bersama, led by former PKR leaders Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.
The relationship became strained in June after Lee said he had lost access to his constituency allocations through the MyKhas portal after attending a Bersama event.
Lee questioned why his access had been blocked, saying he remained an MP supporting the unity government and had never declared that he was leaving the government bloc or voted against it.
On June 12, Lee announced his resignation from PKR’s Central Leadership Council, although he said at the time that he would remain a party member and continue serving as Petaling Jaya MP until the end of the current parliamentary term.
Lee said he made the decision because he could no longer continue working with the party leadership, which he claimed had failed to address problems within the party.
