SARAWAK PKR is reportedly second-guessing the loyalty of former chairman Larry Sng’s family members.

A party source told The Malaysian Insight that the Julau MP’s businessman father Sng Chee Hua and his uncle, Sng Chee Eng, are being treated with suspicion that they will defect.

Chee Hua is the party’s Sarikei division chief while Chee Eng is the division chief of Kapit, the Sng clan’s hometown.

Their decision to hang on rather than follow in the footsteps taken by Larry, who on February 27 quit as the PKR state chairman to pledge his loyalty to the ruling Perikatan Nasional coalition and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, reportedly surprised some party members.

PKR state information chief Abun Sui Anyit reinforced the claims when he told The Malaysian Insight that Sng Chee Hua is “under observation” after he failed to attend the state leadership council (MPN) on March 3.

Chee Eng, however, attended the meeting, which resolved to form a council of elders (COE) to administer the party collectively and fill in the decision-making void created by Larry’s defection.

The council of elders is made up of handpicked senior members of the MPN but the Sngs have been left out.

“None of them are members of the COE,” Anyit said.

Leaving out Chee Hua, who is a close friend and a reported confidant of president Anwar Ibrahim, raised further questions on the future of the Sngs in the party.

Anyit, in his statement announcing the formation of the COE, said the make-up of the council had Anwar’s blessing.

The party’s acting state chief Abg Zulkifli Abg Engkeh, who chairs the council, said he would not be surprised if Chee Hua were to quit to follow his son.

“The father maybe. Uncle not too sure,” he said. – March 11, 2021.