KUALA LUMPUR: Democratic Action Party (DAP) chief Anthony Loke said on Tuesday (Nov 10) that he will resign as Malaysia’s transport minister “effective immediately”, following the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s decision to allow former prime minister Najib Razak to serve his sentence under house arrest.
Loke said the move was in line with the stance he announced last Friday that he will step down when Najib begins his house arrest.
“This decision upholds the principles and stance that I have previously explained,” he said in a statement.
Loke first announced his resignation in September to protest the conditional royal pardon granted to Najib.
He later said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had asked him to remain in his post temporarily, and that he would remain as transport minister until Najib began his house arrest.
Loke – whose DAP is part of the governing Pakatan Harapan coalition with Anwar’s Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) – had previously said his resignation was a party decision to convey its disagreement with the conditional royal pardon.
In his first remarks since his resignation, Loke on Tuesday evening acknowledged that it was the king’s prerogative to grant Najib a conditional pardon and that this must be respected.
However, he reiterated that it was important for the DAP to state its stand clearly, and hence it was important for him to keep to his word and step down from his Cabinet post.
“Kleptocrats who have caused the country to lose billions and to lose respect globally, and yet today he is permitted to return to his bungalow and sleep on his own bed … (on this) we must state out stand,” said Loke to dozens of supporters at a party rally in Melaka ahead of the state elections.
Additional reporting by Amir Yusof
