PETALING JAYA: Some 28 PKR members, including three elected leaders, have been sacked for having dual party membership issues, says Fuziah Salleh.
The party secretary-general said she had received complaints regarding the membership status of 36 members with issues with party membership.
"We always received complaints about dual or some with triple party membership issues.
"The first thing I always do is to determine which party they last joined. If it’s not PKR, then there are grounds for disciplinary action," she said, when contacted on Sunday (May 11).
She warned that strict disciplinary action had been taken after several divisions, including three elected leaders, from Jempol, Negri Sembilan, Pasir Salak, Perak and Besut, Terengganu, after the complaints were verified.
Fuziah stressed that in the case of Jempol, action was taken only after due diligence was completed, even though the leader had won the election, adding that a re-election was held to replace the leader.
She also explained that verifying such cases of dual membership was not straightforward in most cases, as there was no clear evidence or timeline of their party membership.
"I would like to assure you that we do not simply act against members who had joined Umno in the past but later joined PKR," she said, adding that some cases had links dating back to the 1998 Reformasi Movement.
“Many had followed our party president, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, after he was sacked from Umno.
Some never formally left Umno, but eventually they decided to join PKR. In those cases, it’s clear where their loyalty lies,” she explained.
“In some parties, we can check. Others, we can’t. That’s why we look for other factors like whether the individual holds a position or is seen actively contesting under another party’s banner,” she said.
