KUALA LUMPUR – The power struggle in Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) has escalated with the sacking of 11 leaders, including “ordinary member” Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin.
In a statement, the party said all of the 10 members of the party were sacked following their failure to reply to their show cause letters issued a week ago.
PBM said that its disciplinary committee had held a meeting on December 27, to discuss the matter following the issuance of the show cause letter, noting that all individuals have been given seven days to explain themselves.
“However they failed to respond to the letter. Therefore, the disciplinary committee has moved to terminate their positions and membership effectively on December 27 (today),” the statement reads.
Prior to the 15th general election, Zuraida, who was previously with Bersatu, was presented as PBM’s president-designate, about a week after joining the party and was tasked to lead the negotiations for the PBM to join Barisan Nasional (BN).
Also sacked were vice-presidents Rahimah Majid, Sathiskumar Govindaraju, Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari, and Youth chief Na’im Brundage.
The party had also stripped its deputy president Haniza Mohamad Talha and women’s chief Dr Daroyah Alwi of their posts. However, they were still regarded as ordinary members.
The party also sacked its secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad, information chief Zakaria Abdul Halim and four other supreme council members Ab Aziz Ab Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Datuk Roger Tan Seng Huat, and Albakri Salim.
It is believed that the power struggle between the current party president and Julau MP, Larry Sng and Zuraida was the reason behind the sacking.
Sng had insisted that he had never passed over the baton to Zuraida to become PBM’s president although her faction claimed that the party has decided during its Congress in October for the former Ampang MP to lead the party. – The Vibes, December 27, 2022