Being dubbed as the “Mother of Malaysian People” only a few days ago after she returned from her work trip, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin made another headline today when she, who has just been accepted as a member of Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), was named the party’s president-designate and de facto leader effective immediately.
Was it a surprise to know that a new member of a party could automatically be a “president-designate” and de facto leader only a few days after being accepted as a member? The president of PBM, Mr Larry Sng informed the press that this matter was decided and agreed upon unanimously amongst PBM’s political bureau and supreme council. According to him, Zuraida was also given the mandate to lead the party — including negotiations with other political parties and leading discussions with other party leaders.
Since Zuraida’s departure from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s party, BERSATU on May 26th, there were speculations that more members or other lawmakers would abandon the party to join her to PBM. Sng has said that he “would not close the door to anybody” who is interested in joining PBM and “would not make it hard for any leaders to join them”.
Maybe this is why Zuraida was appointed as president-designate whose mandate include negotiations with other political parties, especially since the infamous Sheraton Move. But, why now?
For months now, Malaysia’s Barisan Nasional (BN) is pushing for an early snap general election, especially when the coalition has found its stable ground since the new Prime Minister, Dato Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was chosen as the country’s 9th Prime Minister in August 2021 — after landslide victories for BN in Melaka and Johor state elections.
PBM (once known as Parti Pekerja Sarawak) was established in 2012 by Larry Sng’s father, Sng Chee Hua. Between 2018 to 2021, Larry Sng was in support of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government. He was the State Chairman of Party Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Sarawak. However, after leaving PKR, he declared support for the ruling of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government before being accepted back into PBM and declared Deputy President of PBM on 21st Nov 2021. On 8th January 2022, he became President of PBM and at the same time declared full support for the current government coalition, BN.
Just as a recap, this is the current president of PBM who had just accepted Zuraida as president-designate. He has also informed the press that amendments to PBM’s constitution would be discussed soon to allow swift leadership transition to take place.
The authority to request a dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat from the Agong — to make way for an election lies solely in DS Ismail Sabri’s hands. At the same time, UMNO’s president Dato Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the one who has the power to pick the next candidate for the Prime Minister role. The lacklustre “reign” of DS Ismail Sabri as Prime Minister — especially the most recent comparison between him and Indonesia’s President Jokowi regarding meeting with Elon Musk and his push to use Bahasa Malaysia as a regional and official language to be used worldwide — is probably one of the reasons BN’s hierarchical members are talking about snap elections.
Right now, even though there are whispers of a snap election, there are many more important issues at hand that should be addressed immediately such as the rising food prices, rampant inflation, increasing number of homelessness and bankruptcies and more. Even so, the anti-hopping party law is yet to be discussed and approved before any upcoming election can take place!
The game and the political players are moving too many hands that we’re starting to lose count and couldn’t keep up. How can we protect our own interests as the Rakyat?
Aliza M. is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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