Bagan Serai member of parliament Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri today announced his decision to quit PKR to become an independent.

Mohsin, who was elected to represent the northern Perak constituency in the March 2008 general elections, is the third PKR MP to quit in just as many weeks.

The other two were Bayan Baru MP Zahrain Hashim and Nibong Tebal MP Tan Tee Beng.

NONE Mohsin was accompanied by former PKR secretary-general Salehuddin Hashim at his press conference in Kuala Lumpur this morning to announce his decision.

Salehuddin had also appeared at the press conferences of the other two parliamentarians when they announced their resignations from PKR. 

Mohsin said he decided to leave PKR because he disagrees with the party's stand on the 'Allah' issue. PKR advocates that use of the word is not exclusive to Muslim.

Mohsin said his faith in PKR and Pakatan Rakyat has eroded over the party’s failure to restore its principles and the sovereignty of Islam as well as to defend the institutions of the monarchy and the judiciary.

NONE He added his faith was particularly shaken by the fact that Pakatan's much-vaunted Sept 16 takeover of the federal government did not happen as the coalition's de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim had pledged.

He also complained that, of late, there have been too many power struggles within the party with treachery and backstabbing becoming the order of the day.

Mohsin lamented that all this had affected his ability to perform his duties effectively as an MP.

“I have complained about this issue through proper party channels but no actions have been taken. The worst thing is that the traitors and those with no integrity have instead been given positions in Pakatan and the party,” he said

As such, he said he was resigning from PKR and letting go of all party posts though he would remain as Bagan Serai parlimentarian as an independent. He denied that he has been co-opted by the ruling party Umno.

Salehuddin: I'm not the mastermind

Meanwhile, Salehuddin continued to deny that he was the mastermind of the spate of defections from PKR.

NONE He maintained that he was present at the three press conferences to date because those quitting the party are his friends and they had called him up to express their dissatisfaction with PKR and ask for advice.

According to Salehuddin, PKR should not have made a stand on the controversial 'Allah' issue in face of opposition from some party members.

"The decision was made by one or two people without debate, so it has caused anxiety among grassroots leaders," he said.

During today's 20-minute press conference, apart from Mohsin reading out his prepared statement and answering just one question, it was Salehuddin who did all the talking.

azlan Mohsin, a first-term parliamentarian, beat Zainal Abidin Zin of Umno in the 12th general election by 3,413 votes in a constituency of 47,111 voters .

With Mohsin's departure from PKR, the party holds fewer seats than opposition ally DAP.

DAP has 28 seats, while PKR has 27 and PAS 23.

However, DAP leaders yesterday indicated that they will continue to support PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim as parliamentary opposition leader.

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