But Rafizi stressed that he is still verifying details on the matter, adding that Dr Chia is currently overseas and could not be reached.
“He is overseas. I have spoken to his officers. He is apparently very sick,” Rafizi told Malay Mail Online when contacted.
When asked whether PKR was aware of Dr Chia’s condition, Rafizi said “we heard about it”, but added that there has been no official verification so far from the Inanam assemblyman.
“Official he is still a lawmaker. Until we speak to him, we cannot confirm otherwise,” the PKR secretary-general said.
Dr Chia announced his resignation on Twitter today, catching his party leadership by surprise.
He cited health reasons for his resignation in a brief message on his Twitter account, @rolandchiams.
“Due to health reasons, I will step down as Adun Inanam. I thank the Inanam voters and party leadership for ur support over last 17mths,” the dental surgeon said.
Dr Chia won his Inanam seat in the last state polls with a majority of 3,202 votes against Datuk Eric Majimbun of SAPP, and BN-PBS Joseph Lantip.
It is unknown if Dr Chia is also relinquishing his political positions; he has yet to reply to Malay Mail Online’s messages for confirmation.
State PKR leaders however, were taken aback by their colleague’s resignation announcement.
PKR vice-president Darell Leiking said he had not received confirmation of the resignation and hoped it was not true.
“This is news to me, I will try to verify this as soon as possible,” the Penampang MP told Malay Mail Online when contacted, adding that he was away attending a forum.
PKR’s Api-Api assemblyman, Christina Liew, said she was just as surprised when contacted.
“I am not sure as we have not received any received a resignation letter yet. I contacted the party’s HQ and they also have not heard. We are not sure if this is true or not,” she said, adding that she was unaware of any health problems.
Dr Chia is also Sabah PKR vice-chairman and a party supreme council member.
No comments:
Post a Comment