PETALING JAYA – Petaling Jaya Member of Parliament Lee Chean Chung is the latest elected politician from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s party to quit, with immediate effect.

He announced the decision during a press conference on Oct 2 and said he will issue his resignation letter as a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) member on Oct 5.

“On Sept 30, I received the decision that my membership has been suspended for three years and that I have received the black and white for that.

“As such, I have made the decision to resign (as the Petaling Jaya MP) without any conditions,” the 45-year-old said during the press conference.

He also said he met Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul on Oct 1 to inform him of the matter.

Lee also cited several issues he had championed, including the Urban Renewal Act, the monopoly in Malaysia’s foreign worker management system, as well as the Sales and Service Tax (SST), as possible reasons for his suspension.

There had previously been rumours that PKR was set to suspend him from the party for three years to prevent Bersama, the party launched by former PKR members Rafizi Ramli and Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, from automatically gaining an MP.

In August, three-term lawmaker Wong Chen also left PKR to join Bersama and Lee’s move makes him the fourth to quit.

It was also reported that the decision to suspend him was due to growing unhappiness among grassroots members in the Petaling Jaya division following his involvement in Bersama’s events, despite him still being a PKR member.

PKR and the Chinese-based Democratic Action Party are key components of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, which has been under increasing pressure after a s...