In a Facebook post, Rafizi said the letter was issued by PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh.

The Pandan MP said his remarks were about his plans after Parliament is dissolved and GE16 is called, insisting that he has not left PKR.

“After the Dewan Rakyat is dissolved, I would no longer be bound by the anti-hopping law. Since I would cease to be an MP, it would be up to me to decide what to do.

“As long as I remain an MP and do not formally resign from the party or declare that I have joined another party, I remain a PKR member. The Dewan Rakyat speaker cannot vacate my seat,” he said.

The former minister added that he would respond to Fuziah accordingly to explain his side. “After that, it’s up to them what they want to do.”

Rafizi claimed that PKR wanted him to voluntarily leave the party so that his seat would be vacated, as sacking him would mean he gets to keep his seat.

On Sunday, Rafizi reportedly told Sin Chew that he would defend his Pandan parliamentary seat in GE16 but was unlikely to contest as a PKR candidate.

He remained coy about his plans but said he would definitely not join a “third force”, set up a new party, or work with former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin.

The two-term MP has been openly critical of PKR and its president Anwar Ibrahim, who is prime minister, after losing the race for the PKR deputy presidency to Anwar’s daughter, Nurul Izzah, last year.

Political analyst Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara had said Rafizi appeared to be positioning himself and waiting to be sacked from PKR, though the party is unlikely to do so anytime soon.