Instead, it will set up a Council of Elders to lead the party into the next state election.
State PKR deputy chairman Abang Zulkifli Abang Engkeh said the party was not going to fill the position left vacant by Julau MP Larry Sng, who confirmed his resignation on Sunday. Sng had replaced Baru Bian, who left the party to join Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) in May last year.
“We will not have a chairman anytime soon, assuming that the polls are around the corner. So, we will wait for the state and general election to be over first,” Abang Zulkifli told FMT.
He said party leaders and members had agreed to set up the Council of Elders during a recent meeting. It will have five to seven members but their names have not been finalised yet.
He said the previous criteria set by Sng, that the party needed to be led by a Dayak, was no longer applicable. Sng had quit as chairman in December, saying that a Dayak should lead the party. However, a week later, he changed his mind and reassumed the position.
“PKR is a multiracial party with leaders, members and supporters from various races. Hence, anyone who has the majority support will be allowed to lead the party next,” said Abang Zulkilfi.
“Besides, it is not even necessary for the next chairman to be an elected representative. It will only be based on merit.”
Miri MP Michael Teo is PKR’s only MP in the state now.
Asked about having two chairmen quit the party in just one year, Abang Zulkifli said a political party could not avoid politicking and had to always be prepared for the worst.
“Leaders come and go and at the end of the day, it is how we serve the people and it is the voters who decide,” he said, adding that it is business as usual for the party despite Sng’s departure.
State PKR secretary Joshua Jabeng said the state chairman’s post was not an urgent matter to be decided.
“We are already in the advanced state of preparing for the state election as we have been waiting for it to be held since last year. The party chairman (before this) only oversaw the whole process,” he said.
“Hence, the resignation of Sng doesn’t really affect us much. We will just carry on with what we had planned or have been doing.”
Sng won the Julau parliamentary seat in the last general election as an independent candidate before joining PKR in 2018. He took over as Sarawak PKR chairman after Baru, the Selangau MP, quit last year.