PETALING JAYA: Bersatu supreme council member Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin has dismissed talks about her joining Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) as mere rumours.
“I do not know why I came under attack from certain quarters in my party,” said the Plantation, Industries and Commodities minister.
She said she did not know what had happened at the Bersatu supreme council meeting since she was not able to attend it as she had gone abroad for work.
“I have not received any letter from Bersatu regarding my position in the party. I will continue as usual,” she told theSun yesterday.
“Some people made assumptions because I am close to those who are in PBM. But that did not mean I was going to join them.”
Zuraida said she knew the people in PBM as they were with her in PKR before she left the party.
She added the sad part about the issue was that no one in Bersatu had approached her about the purported PBM move prior to the council meeting.
Zuraida said the timing of this issue was also not right because of the coming Johor state election, and the need for the party to show a united front.
Reports had emerged that a majority of the Bersatu supreme council members had agreed to sack Zuraida due to her alleged ties with PBM.
One report stated that a council member had suggested that Zuraida be sacked from the party, and that the proposal had received majority support, but no decision was made.
The Ampang member of parliament said she had helped members of the Pengerak Kommuniti Negara who left PKR.
She said the 50,000 members had initially wanted to join Bersatu but changed their minds when they realised they would not be able to play a meaningful role in the party.
Zuraida said that the members then decided they should form their own party through which they would be able to contribute to nation building.
She said that was how PBM came into being but she had nothing to do with it.
She added that instead of playing politics, elected ministers and members of parliament (MP) should concentrate on serving the people.
“Over the last three years, ‘playing politics’ by certain individuals has become more important than serving the people who elected them.
“Even the changes in government are bad for the country. We should stop playing politics now.”
