Sabah PKR leader quits as info chief after call for more state seats not met

(FMT) – Sabah PKR information chief Simsudin Sidek has chosen to step down from the post after his call for the party to get 14 seats in the state election did not materialise.

Simsudin, the Labuan PKR chief, said he accepted and respected the decision made by the state chapter, which had instead accepted the seven seats allocated to it by the Warisan Plus coalition.

He announced his resignation as the information chief in a statement issued on Friday.

“My opinion is that with the obvious rise in Sabah PKR members and the additional seats in the state election, it was justified for the party to get a better and fair share of the seat allocations.”

He added, however, that he will remain loyal to PKR, which he joined over 20 years ago, and will also continue to be the Labuan chapter chief.

In his earlier call on Wednesday, Simsudin said Sabah PKR accepted that they were only given eight state and six MP seats to contest in the 2018 general election.

He said the party agreed to this on the basis of good faith and friendship with its partners, particularly Warisan.

He pointed out however that the party now has more than 170,000 members in Sabah, the second highest membership in the country after Selangor.

“Hence, the party this time intended to field 14 state seat candidates, an increase that is justified since the number of Sabah state seats has risen from 60 to 73 seats in this election,” he said.

In the 2018 election, Sabah PKR only won two of the eight state seats and three of the six MP seats it contested in.