Zuraida among 11 suspended members ejected from PBM

PETALING JAYA: Eleven members of Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) out of the 13 who were previously suspended have been ejected from the party.

The other two suspended members – Haniza Mohamed Talha and Dr Daroyah Alwi – were not sacked but both have been removed as the deputy president and PBM women's wing chief respectively, said the PBM information unit.

All 13 did not respond to the show-cause letters issued to them last Monday (Dec 19).

Among the sacked PBM members are former Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, vice-presidents Rahimah Majid, Sathiskumar Govindaraju and Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari; party youth chief Na'im Brundage and party secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad.

Also sacked were information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid, supreme council member Ab Aziz Ab Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Datuk Roger Tan Seng Huat, and Albakri Salim.

When contacted, PBM president Datuk Larry Sng said Haniza and Daroyah remained as members of the party as they were elected state assemblymen.

"With the anti-party hopping law in effect in Selangor, we do not want to be seen as encouraging them jump to another party," he told The Star.

The PBM information unit said the disciplinary action against the 13 party members came following a meeting by its disciplinary committee on Dec 27.

"They were given a chance to defend themselves in seven days but they failed to give a response to the PBM disciplinary committee. In the interests of PBM, the disciplinary committee decided that the membership and positions by these individuals will be terminated on Dec 27," said the PBM information unit.

Sng said on Monday (Dec 26) that the 13 were issued show-cause letters on Dec 19 and they had a one-week deadline to provide a response.

According to him, 15 members were suspended initially.

However, the suspension was lifted on two members following a meeting on Dec 17 and they have been reinstated to their party positions.

A leadership tussle broke out between Sng and Zuraida in October over the president's post.

Sng maintained that he was still the president despite another faction within the party saying that it was decided in the party congress in October that Zuraida should take over.

"There was no resignation on my part as president nor was there any decision to remove me as such during the AGM, so my position in the party remains.

"However, Zuraida and those aligned to her have caused confusion and acted against the interests of the party and its members. Because of this, their membership and positions have been suspended until decided otherwise by the disciplinary committee," said Sng.

Haniza had said on Dec 26 that the Registrar of Societies should investigate Sng's legitimacy to lead PBM as president.

Haniza said Zuraida was the rightful PBM president as the party had decided this during its annual general assembly in October.

The Lembah Jaya assemblyman claimed that after GE15, Sng had unilaterally decided to cooperate with the unity government without any discussions with party members.