PBM power struggle saga: Zuraida and 10 others sacked, two remain ordinary members

From left: Datuk Larry Sng and Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin

By Nur Ashikin Louis

KUCHING, Dec 27: Former Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin and 10 other Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) supreme council members have been sacked from the party with immediate effect, ending the party’s power struggle.

They are vice presidents Rahimah Majid, Dr Sathiskumar Govindaraju and Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari; Youth chief Naā€™im Brundage, secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad, info chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid, and four other members, namely Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Datoā€™ Roger Tan Seng Huat and Albakri Salim.

Meanwhile, two other supreme council members, namely Haniza Mohamed Talha and Daroyah Alwi, were stripped of their posts as deputy president and women chief, respectively. However, they remain ordinary members of the party.

In a statement today, PBM Info Unit said the partyā€™s disciplinary action committee had made the decision after the suspended 13 failed to respond to show cause letters issued to them on Dec 19.

ā€œAccording to the partyā€™s constitution, following the show cause letters distributed to the 13 members on Dec 19, where they are given a chance to explain and defend themselves within seven days, they have failed to respond to the partyā€™s disciplinary action committee.

ā€œWith that, for the sake of the partyā€™s interest, PBM disciplinary action committee have decided that their membership and/or their posts would be revoked with immediate effect on Dec 27,ā€ the unit said.

The power struggle started when the official president Datuk Larry Sng Wei Shien, had indicated his intention to make Zuraida his successor in the party in the near future during the partyā€™s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Oct 1.

On Oct 7, a PBM Supreme Council meeting was held, and Zuraida was appointed as the new president, both without Sngā€™s consent.

This led to the suspension of Zuraida and 12 other supreme council members under the reason of undermining the interest of the party and its leadership. ā€” DayakDaily