KUALA LUMPUR: Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) hopes that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob will retain Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin in the Cabinet.

       PBM president Larry Sng said the party would however leave it to Ismail Sabri to decide on Zuraida’s position in the Cabinet.

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       “As far as the ministerial post is concerned, we leave it entirely to the Prime Minister to decide. That’s his prerogative,” said Sng.

       “But of course, PBM would also hope the Prime Minister will consider to retain Zuraida based on her performance and consider the support PBM has rendered to his government as well,” Sng added at a press conference here on Thursday (June 9).

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       On May 26, the Ampang MP quit Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia to join PBM. She had also said that she may resign from her ministerial post.

       However, Zuraida said she had yet to get a date to meet the Prime Minister to discuss matters related to her Cabinet post.

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       “I am open to finishing my term (as a minister),” she said and added that it was the Prime Minister’s prerogative to decide whether she remains in Cabinet.

       Following her departure, Bersatu had expressed intentions to propose one of its leaders as Zuraida’s successor in the Cabinet.

       ALSO READ: Zuraida: Only PM can decide on my position

       Sng also said that PBM had initiated the process to join Barisan Nasional.

       “As for the result of that process, I think that we will have to wait for a little bit of time for them to discuss and consider,” he said.

       The former PKR Sarawak chairman was appointed as PBM’s president on Jan 8.