Former Keadilan deputy president Dr Chandra Muzaffar today accused the party vice-president Azmin Ali of telling preposterous lies about his reasons to quit the party last year.

Chandra stressed that his decision to resign even as a party member stemmed from his disillusionment with the Keadilan leadership.

[My reasons for quitting] if known to the public would make a mockery of Keadilans rhetoric of being the harbinger of a new politics, he said in a statement.

Azmin on Sunday said Chandra had left the party when he realised that his views and comments in the party were not welcomed by party members.

However, Chandra claimed that Azmin, who is also Selangors Hulu Kelang state assemblyperson, was one of the numerous leaders and divisional chiefs who approached him personally to persuade him to stay last year.

I am therefore astonished that Azmin has the temerity to suggest what he said...

It is dishonesty of this sort, mirrored in the ease with which certain Keadilan leaders lie, distort and deceive the people that convinces me that I did the right thing by leaving the party last December, said Chandra, who is president of the International Movement for a Just World (Just).

Shortly before Keadilan held its elections last November, Chandra had announced that he would not contest for deputy presidency, a post which he has held since the inception of the party.

He subsequently quit the party, citing dedication and commitment to non-governmental organisation work which focuses on international issues.

Disillusioned with Anwar

However, late last month, while attending a forum organised by DAP, Chandra reportedly stated that there were other factors — that he could not go against his conscience and that he could not stay in the a party that practises the principle of the end justifies the means.

Following that, DAP deputy chairperson Karpal Singh extended an invitation to him to join the party.

Chandra today conceded that while taking a question from the floor at the DAP forum, he said he was disillusioned with Keadilans de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.

However, he rejected Karpals offer to join DAP, saying that he had withdrawn from party politics for good.

I have no intention of joining any political party, be it an opposition party or a government party, he said.

Anwars wife Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail formed Keadilan three years ago before the 1999 general elections.

Anwar, the former deputy prime minister, is currently serving a 15-year jail term for sodomy and corruption charges.