KUALA LUMPUR – Fledgling Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) is mired in more internal drama as party president Larry Sng suspends president-designate Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and 12 supreme council members.
In a statement, Sng said the suspensions are effective immediately and are in relation to their “ongoing involvement in undermining the interest of the party and its leadership”.
Zuraida is suspended as a PBM ordinary member.
“I strongly despise and condemn such political manoeuvring which has undermined the trust of my leadership and has caused much confusion to party members and the general public at large.
“As such, their positions will be suspended until a disciplinary committee is set up to look into the matter after the election.”
Suspension letters have been sent to those affected individually.
He added that a supreme council meeting will be held at 4pm, tomorrow in Sarikei, Sarawak to discuss and settle the issue immediately.
The PBM supreme council who are suspended are Haniza Mohamad Taha, Daroyah Alwi, Rahimah Majid, Sathiskumar Govindaraju, Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari, Na’im Brundage, Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Muniraa Abu Bakar, Datuk Chua Lian Chye, Datuk Roger Tan Seng Huat, and Albakri Salim.
Just today, PBM held a press conference to announce that Zuraida would defend her Ampang parliamentary seat in the 15th general election.
“I can confirm today, as of now, the parliamentary seat will be defended by PBM president Zuraida,” said PBM secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad.
However, yesterday, Sng claimed he was still officially PBM president, and had suspended Hizwan and information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid with immediate effect.
Today, Hizwan said Sng had recognised the legitimacy of Zuraida’s position as party president numerous times through WhatsApp when dealing with her or any PBM supreme council members.
“Until now, PBM administrators have no idea why Sng issued irresponsible statements through his Facebook post.
“As such, we hope that he would attend PBM’s supreme council meeting which is set to be held on November 3 to resolve any confusion regarding whatever issue involving the party’s administration,” he said at a press conference at the party’s Bukit Antarabangsa district machinery centre, today.
The suspensions were ordered after the party’s records with the Registrar of Societies (RoS) showed that Sng is still the president.
“According to the RoS records, I am still the legitimately recognised president of PBM,” Sng said in a Facebook post.
He blamed Hizwan and Zakaria for the party’s supreme council meeting being held on October 7 without his instructions.
On October 8, Hizwan had issued a statement on behalf of PBM announcing Zuraida as the party president.
Yesterday, Sng had also asserted that he would be in charge of naming PBM’s GE15 candidates.
Sng and Zuraida were from PKR, but left the party. Sng did so to become an independent MP before forming PBM, while Zuraida joined Bersatu, which she later quit for PBM. – The Vibes, October 29, 2022
