PETALING JAYA: The status of Ampang MP Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin's application to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) will be announced early next month, says party president Larry Sng (pic).

       He said, in a statement Friday (May 27), that he had just been informed of Zuraida's intention to join PBM.

       However, Sng said he would be leaving overseas on Friday and would only return to Malaysia on June 7.

       "We will make a formal announcement of the decision of her entry upon my return from overseas," he said in his statement.

       On Thursday (May 26), Zuraida, who is also the Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, announced that she had left Bersatu and would join PBM.

       "God-willing, I will meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob soonest to discuss my resignation as a minister," she said in a press statement.

       PBM’s two other MPs are party president Larry Sng of Julau and Steven Choong of Tebrau. Both left PKR in February 2021.

       The party also has five assemblymen.

       Sng also noted that the party's central leadership will deliberate on her application, as this was part of the due process in membership applications.

       "I would like to reiterate that PBM welcomes anyone who shares the party's struggles.

       "Zuraida's willingness to join PBM is further proof that the party has attracted a wide spectrum of Malaysians who are drawn to its founding principles," he said.