Former Segambut MP joins PKR

Former Segambut MP joins PKR
By ROYCE CHEAH


PETALING JAYA: Former Segambut MP and Federal Territories Gerakan chief Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong has joined PKR citing that he has lost faith in Barisan Nasional.

Speaking at a press conference Saturday together with PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Dr Tan said he had submitted his decision to resign from Gerakan via fax at 11am on Friday.

"The decision was not easy but the sentiments were there. I also received the support of my wife and close friends," he said, adding that the decision was made two days ago.

Dr Tan, 62, said that Gerakan had not contacted him since the letter was faxed and that the party had also not "talked about him" for the past six weeks.

"I joined PKR because I believe it is the party of the future and that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is leading the charge to make Malaysia a better country."

When asked if he was sad about leaving the party he had joined in 1995, Dr Tan said it was not about being sad but about doing what was right in the little time that anyone has in life.

"It is actually a breath of fresh air for me. I know that people might criticise me for being ungrateful but even in my previous party I was considered an irritant, a cancer in the party that refused to follow the mainstream."

Dr Tan said in his time in Government, as a former Deputy Land and Cooperative Development Minister, he had tried his best to effect change from within but could not.

"And any effort to effect change now would be impossible."

He said all Barisan component parties ought to reassess themselves and be honest about what they stood for in politics, adding that he was not advocating mass defections.