The Sabah Progressive Party has warned party dissenter Raymond Tan that he would be sacked if he does not submit his official resignation soon.

But Tan said he has already prepared his resignation letter but had yet to submit it.

Sapp information chief Chong Pit Fah, in a media briefing yesterday said, “if there are still no resignation letters from Raymond Tan and his five agents, Sapp will have no choice but to proceed with actions to establish permanently the membership status of Raymond Tan and the five agents”.

Chong however, had refused to disclose the names of the five agents and merely added, “Everybody knows who they are”.

Chong set no deadlines for the resignations but cited two clauses from the party’s constitution.

“Until and unless a member has resigned in writing and surrendered his membership card or has been expelled, his membership in Sapp is still valid.

raymond tan shu kiah “Branch officials who resign are also required by law to return party properties such as membership files and accounts,” read Chong.

According to the Star , Tan who is also the Sabah deputy chief minister was said to have prepared his resignation letter and would be “sending the letter as soon as possible”.

On Sept 17 Sapp pulled out from the BN citing numerous grievances and expressed that the party has lost confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

However, Abdullah had expressed relief at Sapp’s pullout, describing the party as ‘a nuisance’ and claimed that he could not satisfy the party chief Yong Teck Lee ‘personal greed’. Yong has denied the allegations.

Tan was among the three supreme council members who opposed the pullout and announced the same day that they were leaving the party to remain with the ruling coalition.

Two others who have resigned in writing are Elopura state assemblyperson Au Kam Wah and Chief Minister Musa Aman's political secretary Jimmy Wong Chee Kiong.

Also no longer with the party officially are eight members of the Telipok branch in the Greater Kota Kinabalu area.

Those who have resigned

The party's information chief also disclosed that apart from Au, 133 other members of the Elopura branch have resigned from the party.

They include former deputy president Tham Nyip Shen, who has also resigned as science advisor to the chief minister.

“No members in the Tanjung Papat state constituency represented by Tan have resigned from Sapp,” said Chong.

He also denied that he was “splitting hairs” over Tan for not sending in his written resignation.

“It is also possible that some time in the future, some or all of these ex-members, including Tan, may claim that in fact they have never resigned as members of Sapp.

“And as members, they would still have rights to attend meetings, enter party premises, vote and to hold office according to the party constitution,” said Chong.

He alleged that Tan and ‘his agents’ have, in the meantime, been offering inducements to other Sapp members to join their new party, “with incentives for publicly announcing their resignations from Sapp”.

“Mostly, the members have remained steadfast with Sapp,” claimed Chong.

Tan has denied that he was forming a new party. “It’s not true,” he told the press yesterday dismissing the speculation. “If there’s anything, I will inform you all.”

Tan remains a deputy chief minister and Infrastructure Development minister.

Musa has drawn flak from BN component parties for retaining Tan in the state cabinet and has promised to consult with the prime minister and cabinet ministers soon on Tan's position.