KUALA LUMPUR: The Prime Minister has the sole prerogative to decide whether she stays on as Cabinet minister, says Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who is joining Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).

       She said she would meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob this week but no time had been set.

       “I am still the minister, which is why I came here to officiate this event. The Prime Minister has the discretion and prerogative on this matter, so we wait for his decision.

       “If I am asked to give up my ministerial position, I will do the needful,” she said during a press conference after launching the Malaysian Rubber Council’s Global Funding for Rubber Innovation here yesterday.

       Ismail Sabri had said he would meet Zuraida to decide on her Cabinet position.

       On the future of her parliamentary seat, she hoped that she could stay on as Ampang MP.

       “My party membership is also being processed, so I have not decided what post I will take in the new party,” she added.

       On May 26, Zuraida announced her decision to leave Bersatu to join PBM.

       Separately, she said Malaysian companies issued the Withhold Release Order (WRO) by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on grounds of forced labour would be released in three to six months’ time. She said this came after meetings were held during her visit to the United States recently.

       “The CBP has now mellowed down and the matter is now water under the bridge.

       “They are more open to engagement and have met up with the companies that have been slapped with the WRO, which are from the rubber and palm oil industries,” she clarified.