KUCHING: Julau member of parliament Datuk Larry Sng Wei Shien said "No comment" when asked about the appointment of Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin as the new president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), today.
Yesterday, PBM Secretary General Nor Hizwan Ahmad confirmed in a statement that Zuraida was officially PBM's new president.
He added the move was unanimously adopted at the PBM Supreme Council Meeting on Friday, which also approved seven motions that were greenlit at the party's 2022 Annual General Meeting.
Sng was previously appointed as PBM president by representatives from 12 party divisions who attended an Extraordinary General Meeting in Sibu, Sarawak, on Jan 8.
Zuraida, a former PKR vice president, quit the Pakatan Harapan component party during the Sheraton Move in Feb 2020.
Together with 10 other federal lawmakers, she then joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), but left in May this year.
The change of guard from Sng to Zuraida in the multiracial party, however, has not been smooth.
On Oct 2, Sng insisted that he was still the president of the party and refuted a report published by a news portal stating that he was being replaced by Zuraida.
In the same social media post, he stressed he has not resigned as the PBM president and would not do so as the 15th General Election was just around the corner.
PBM currently has six federal lawmakers, with two from Selangor, two from Johor, and one each from Sabah and Sarawak.
They are Zuraida, Sng (Julau), Xavier Jayakumar (Kuala Langat), Datuk Seri Dr Edmund Santhara Kumar Ramanaidu (Segamat), Steven Choong Shiau Yoon (Tebrau) and Datuk Mohammadin Ketapi (Lahad Datu).
The party also has five state lawmakers in Perak, Selangor and Sabah. They are Paul Yong Choo Kiong (Tronoh), Leong Cheok Keng (Malim Nawar), Haniza Mohamed Talha (Lembah Jaya), Daroyah Alwi (Sementa) and Datuk Mohamadin Ketapi (Segama).