Status remains till Chia returns
Published on: Friday, December 19, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR: The status of Inanam Assemblyman Dr Roland Chia from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will remain until he (Chia) returns from his overseas trip.PKR Secretary-General Rafizi Ramli said Chia had written to PKR about his health condition and also his intention to step down.However, Rafizi said whatever decision taken would be solely between the two parties – PKR and Chia – and this would be resolved as soon as Chia returns to Malaysia following his treatment.
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"He had earlier written to the party about his health condition, which he described as serious and that he wanted to resign."We told him that we will discuss the matter as soon as he returns and for the time being, his position will remain status quo," he said.Dr Chia dropped a bombshell on Wednesday when he posted his resignation on his Facebook and Twitter accounts, citing health reasons.The dental surgeon is currently overseas and will only be back by the end of the month.
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Rafizi said the party was still in the dark over Dr Chia's condition, but was told he had lost weight and looked frail.Dr Chia, the Sabah PKR Vice-Chairman and a member of the party's supreme council, won the Inanam seat in the 2013 general election in a three-way contest, winning 8,926 votes against Datuk Eric Majimbun of SAPP (5,003 votes) and Joseph Lantip of BN-PBS (5,724 votes).
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On Thursday, Sabah PKR Chairman Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin was reported as denying Dr Chia has resigned from his state seat."As of now, it is just a rumour. I checked with the Sabah Legislative Assembly Speaker (Datuk Seri Salleh Tun Said) and was informed that there has been no resignation of any assemblyman," he said.Lajim had said he and Dr Chia had attended a meeting together last week, and the assemblyman had not said anything about stepping down. Meanwhile, in KOTA KINABALU, PKR Sabah Information Chief Datuk Maijol Mahap said PKR Sabah strongly believed that Dr Chia has or will resign.At the same time, Maijol clarified that there was no argument or friction between Lajim and Dr Chia. "We have had our RCI Monitoring Committee meeting on Dec 7 at 7.30pm. The Committee was created sometime ago to study and scrutinise the anticipated RCI report. "We bought the RCI report on Dec 4 and all of us read it and on the night of Dec 7 we had our meeting on it at our State PKR office in Kepayan. Many attended the meeting. "Dr Chia also attended but he came late because he said he had a meeting with some of his supporters before that. As the meeting was about to finish when he arrived, he didn't say much but expressed support for our plan of actions to handle the issue, including the immediate tasks of having a Pakatan Rakyat meeting with DAP and PAS on the following day (Dec 8) and to have Pakatan Rakyat press conference on Dec 9."I was in the meeting till the end around 9pm and after the meeting Dr Chia and we all stayed back for a while to catch up with each other and had casual talks and crack jokes as usual. "Every thing was normal and I have not seen or heard he had argument with Lajim either during or after the meeting. So when it was reported in the paper that they have had argument, I was surprised because I know there was none. So I am making this statement to clarify," he said.Meanwhile, in SHAH ALAM, PKR Deputy President Mohamed Azmin Ali said PKR is to have a discussion with Dr Roland Chia over the latter's desire to resign as the party's assemblyman for Inanam. He said the party would have the discussion with Dr Chia, 44, after he returned from holiday abroad. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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