Key Jeffrey aide quits PKR with immediate effect

Phillip Among @ Daniel Dell Fidelis, 41, a key aide of outgoing Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice president Jeffrey Kitingan, quit from the party late yesterday evening with immediate effect.

Among is Jeffrey's special assistant.

Among, elaborating on a press statement, said that his resignation was emailed to PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution, party president Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, de facto chief Anwar Ibrahim, and Jeffrey (right).

Among had raised the subject of quitting PKR during a Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA) meet on Thurday night in Kota Kinabalu.

He intends to email a note, a personal one, separately to Anwar explaining what drove him to resign from the party.

"I no longer want to bear witness to a situation where Jeffrey and Anwar continue to inflict pain and humiliation on each other," explained Among, who has also doubled up as Anwar's aide in his Sabah visits.

In his letter of resignation, however, Among reportedly made no reference to the relationship between Jeffrey and Anwar.

Instead, he advised Saifuddin, among others, that it was getting increasingly difficult to sell the idea of the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat, to the people of Sabah.

This was because the Peninsular Malaysia-based Pakatan wants to contest all seats in Sabah and Sarawak.

Umno, in contrast, has allowed half the seats in Sabah and all the seats in Sarawak to be contested by local parties.

"Pakatan should at least match Umno in Sabah and Sarawak but this is not being done," said Among (left).

"Anwar is only interested in getting ten parliamentary seats each in Sabah and Sarawak to get to Putrajaya.

"But Putrajaya is not what our struggle is all about. We can co-operate but not kowtow."

'Not rooting for anyone'

Asked which Sabah opposition parties he had in mind to join, he pointed out that there were many registered with the Registrar of Societies. However he denied that he was rooting for any of them or that he had set up a new political party.

He isn't sure whether others will quit the party but thinks that most members will not leave any time soon because the speculation in Sabah is that the general election is imminent.

"But why should we worry about the general election? If we miss the coming one, we can always prepare for the one after that," said Among. "It's more important, as the people keep telling us, to get our politics and relationships right."

Among had urged those gathered at the CigMA meet on Thursday to quit PKR irrespective of whether they had an alternative party in place or whether a general election was imminent.

Among opined that at the moment, BN offers the best political arrangement - on paper at least - for Sabah and Sarawak.

However, he denied that he had any plans to join any BN component party. "We need something better than BN and Pakatan," he stressed."

It was not immediately clear what triggered Among to send in his resignation.

Among had pulled out from contesting for a seat on the PKR Supreme Council after Jeffrey had declined 40 nominations on Oct 16 for the vice-presidency.

The quit notice would be seen in Kota Kinabalu as an ironic turn of events. Among was the one who reportedly "put out the fire" after Jeffrey issued his famous "I have burnt my bridges" statement on Oct 27 last year.

He helped set up a Jeffrey-Anwar (left) meet in Kuching which paved the way for the former to pull back from the brink.

Jeffrey had little to say on Among's resignation. "Eventually, we can't stop those who want to go especially if they are determined," he shrugged, seemingly not surprised or perturbed.

"This has been a long time in coming. However he has only resigned from PKR. He remains with us in other ways."

He declined to confirm whether his aide had discussed his resignation with him. He dismissed suggestions that Among's resignation was part of an overall strategy at work.

Jeffrey himself was seen for the first time in many years at the state assembly on Friday afternoon for the budget sitting. He was seen being warmly greeted, Sabah style, by BN legislators.

Among is more noted among PKR members in Sabah for shuttling back and forth between Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in preparation for the infamous Sept 16 2008 move to seize the reins of power in Putrajaya from BN.

Among represented Jeffrey who had been put in charge of the mission in Sabah and Sarawak. Among had always claimed that he didn't fail in his mission but that it was "others who didn't come through".

If Jeffrey's people leave PKR without an alternative vehicle in place, it would not be too far-fetched to speculate that they may stand as an independent block in the forthcoming general election.