PKR veep Xavier quits party

PKR vice-president Xavier Jayakumar today became the latest MP to quit the party, saying he would now support Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

In a statement today, the long-time PKR member said he had “grown extremely frustrated” following the events of the past year including persistent talk of holding a general election.

“Our current priority should be to support the government in containing the Covid-19 pandemic, to create jobs and to secure funds to rebuild the economy.

“It will take at least 18 months just to complete the vaccination programme and more than two years for the economy to fully recover,” the Kuala Langat MP said.

MalaysiaNow has separately learnt that Xavier had written to Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Harun informing him that he had become an independent MP friendly to the Perikatan Nasional government, effective yesterday.

This leaves PKR with 35 MPs, following the resignation of its Tebrau and Julau MPs last month, as well as the exodus of several others after the political crisis of 2020 that saw the change of government.

“I will continue to serve my constituency and support the government as an independent member of Parliament, and I am confident that I will fulfil my election promises to the people of Kuala Langat,” Xavier said today.

Xavier, seen as a staunch loyalist of Anwar Ibrahim and among the pioneer PKR leaders at the party’s formation in the late 90s, said the current efforts to fight the Covid-19 pandemic need bipartisan support.

“The people want stability and to restart our ailing economic sectors. Towards this, we need to work together, not against one another,” he said.