KOTA KINABALU: Up to 8,000 members, or five per cent of Sabah PKR's total membership of 170,000, left the party today.
Former PKR Sabah Task Force director Datuk Nani Sakam said several representatives were informed that grassroots members from certain divisions had agreed to quit the party.
"We made the decision to leave as we have lost confidence in PKR under the leadership of Datuk Christina Liew.
"We are no longer interested in PKR as the leader has neglected the welfare of its members at the grassroots level, though we have been with the party for so long" he told a press conference, adding that Liew seldom looks into the needs of members.
Nani stressed that they were not pressured to make the decision following political turmoil in the country.
The central committee is also aware of the exodus, as the media invitation for today's press conference went viral several days ago.
"For now, we will not join any party nor have any affiliation with others.
"We are party-less now, thus we will just be law-abiding citizens to the current government," he said.
Meanwhile, the press conference, held at a restaurant in Putatan near here, was briefly interrupted by outsiders who voiced their dissatisfaction over the announcement.