PKR regrets members jumped ship, says Nurul

BUKIT MERTAJAM: PKR had expected some members to leave the party in the days leading to the general election but a deep sense of betrayal is still felt, says its vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

“There will be such antics in every election,” she told a press conference here yesterday.

However, she added that she was heartened by the response of those members’ friends, who chose to stay with the party.

Since early this month, almost 300 PKR members in Penang have announced that they are quitting, citing their disappointment with the weak party leadership in the state.

Some 120 PKR and DAP members from Kampung Valdor in Juru also said they would leave the parties, claiming that their welfare had been overlooked.

Their spokesman, A. Robert, said they were disappointed with the parties’ Indian leaders who had failed to help them.

In Butterworth, another group of 145, also claiming to be DAP and PKR members, said they have quit.

The members, from branches in the Batu Kawan parliamentary constituency, said they were frustrated with their respective party leadership as their woes had not been addressed.

Group spokesman K. Nirmalkumar said they would not be joining any other party for now but would support Barisan Nasional’s Batu Kawan candidate Datuk Jayanthi Devi Balaguru.