PORT DICKSON, July 20 — PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today explained that the resignation of the party’s Johor state chief Hassan Abdul Karim, was the latter’s personal decision, as he felt that he was a burden to the party.
According to Anwar, two incidents led to Hassan’s resignation, one was his internal issues with the party members and another followed through after his spat the Sultan of Johor Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.
“Hassan actually tendered his resignation three weeks ago before all these. Number one, because some members grumbled, number two, because there was a small spat with the Sultan of Johor, and he thought that he will be a burden to the party.
“I disagreed. So we have not accepted his resignation. He was concerned that he may complicate relationships between the palace and the party,” Anwar said this evening in a press conference at PKR’s retreat at the Lexis Hibiscus resort in Port Dickson.
Online news portal Malaysiakini yesterday quoted a source saying that Hassan’s decision to quit was not related to the tense relations between Anwar or his deputy Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
The Pasir Gudang lawmaker was also absent from the PKR state chiefs’ meeting yesterday, where six state leaders declared their full support for Anwar.
Hassan had originally turned down his appointment back in December following Nurul Izzah’s own resignation as the party’s vice-president and Penang state chairman.
At that time, his appointment was criticised by multiple parties amidst accusations of cronyism after Azmin had defeated his challenger Rafizi Ramli for PKR’s number two post during the PKR elections.
After the election results were over, Anwar had appointed Rafizi and some of Rafizi’s supporters into the party’s office.
Hassan had said that since his appointment was in dispute, it was proper for him to step down.
However, he reversed his decision and took up the mantle as the party’s state chief.
