KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 17): Permatang Pauh Member of Parliament Nurul Izzah Anwar announced her resignation as the PKR vice-president today.

Nurul Izzah said she also relinquished her appointment as Penang PKR chief.

"The leadership has been informed of my decision,” she said in a statement today.

Nurul Izzah, dubbed as 'Puteri Reformasi' since the formation of the “Reformasi” movement era however said that she would remain as  a member of the parliamentary backbench and as an ordinary PKR member.

"I will also no longer serve the federal government in any capacity. I leave the decision as to my role in the Penang state government-linked companies to the party leadership.

"I remain a member of the parliamentary backbench committed to reforms. I also leave to the leadership the decision as to my status as a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).  I had earlier relinquished my post as Chair of the Bills Committee in favour of the PAC," she said.

She said May 9 this year had been a watershed for many reasons, among others, a peaceful transition at federal power and Malaysians saw the enlargement of their democratic space for reforms to be initiated. 

However, she said, the successful completion of the promised reform agenda by Pakatan Harapan remained to be seen.

As such, she said, it remained crucial for all stakeholders to continue to press for the fulfilment of the reforms, as well as the continuation of policies and programmes of the previous government, if proven to be beneficial for the public.

Nurul Izzah noted that her journey in politics began in 1998 more as a political awakening and eventually as part of the central leadership of the PKR.

"I thank the members of PKR for according me the opportunity to serve them all this while.

“There are beliefs and ideals I hold dear and I feel that I can be most true to them by taking this course of action I am now announcing," she added.

She said her only regret was not making the announcement sooner.

"It has not been an easy decision to arrive at. The pace of political developments has been relentless for the last nine months, with party elections following a gruelling general election campaign.

"Now that I have had the chance to take stock of where I stand in relations to politics, I am resolved to doing the right thing. I wish the leadership and the party the very best," she said.