KUALA LUMPUR – Petaling Jaya MP Lee Chean Chung has resigned from Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Central Leadership Council, ending an eight-year stint in the party’s top leadership while remaining a party member and Member of Parliament.
In a statement shared on Facebook, Lee reflected on his 18-year journey with PKR, beginning as a research officer in Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s office in 2008 before serving as a state assemblyman, party leader and eventually an MP.
“Today, I officially resign as a member of the Central Leadership Council. However, I remain a party member and will continue serving as a Member of Parliament until Parliament is dissolved,” he said.
Lee recalled the sacrifices made during the early years of his political career, including relocating to Kuantan in 2012 to build grassroots support ahead of the 2013 general election. He said he relied on personal savings for 18 months before winning the Semambu state seat.
He also highlighted PKR’s fundraising efforts during its years in opposition, noting that members sold newspapers, organised charity events and raised public donations to sustain party activities.
Throughout his political career, Lee was involved in various reform and environmental campaigns, including efforts against environmental degradation at Tasik Chini, opposition to the Baram Dam project in Sarawak, and participation in the #KitaLawan movement following Anwar’s imprisonment in 2015.
Following PKR’s rise to power in 2018, Lee served as the party’s Treasurer-General and later Communications Director. In those roles, he helped establish a multilingual communications team and conducted social media and TikTok training programmes across the country.
Lee said his decision to step down from the party leadership was triggered by the suspension of access to the MyKhas system for the Petaling Jaya parliamentary constituency on May 29, 2026, which he said disrupted constituency allocation management and community programmes.
“My demand is very simple. I hope the party can provide a reasonable explanation,” he said, adding that neither he nor his constituents had received an official explanation from PKR.
He stressed that his concerns were not motivated by a desire for allocations or resources.
“If all I wanted was allocations, I could have chosen to remain silent so that everything would continue as usual, as though no mistake needed correcting,” he said.
Lee also defended his commitment to the party and reform movement, noting that he had previously risked losing his position as an elected representative by taking part in protests following Anwar’s imprisonment.
In a pointed criticism of the party’s leadership, Lee said: “PKR today is no longer the PKR that I once knew. The leadership is unwilling to step forward and correct the party’s mistakes in order to protect their own positions.”
He said he could no longer continue serving in the party leadership or work alongside those responsible for its current direction.
Despite resigning from the Central Leadership Council, Lee said he would continue serving as an MP and ordinary party member.
He also pledged to continue supporting reforms and providing checks and balances on the government, including backing proposed legislation on prime ministerial term limits, the separation of the Attorney General’s and Public Prosecutor’s powers, and a Freedom of Information Act.
Lee had earlier raised concerns after losing access to the MyKhas portal on May 29, saying the move had significantly hampered his office’s ability to carry out routine constituency development and assistance programmes.
He also claimed that repeated requests for clarification had gone unanswered, leaving both him and his constituents without an official explanation. — June 12, 2026