PBM welcomes new members Santhara and Xavier

Segamat MP Edmund Santhara Kumar and Kuala Langat MP Dr Xavier Jayakumar have both joined Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).

PBM president-designate Zuraida Kamaruddin announced the party’s new members after its first annual general meeting in Petaling Jaya today.

Both Santhara and Jayakumar won their seats in the previous general election under PKR’s banner, as did Zuraida, who is the Ampang MP.

Zuraida and Santhara both quit PKR amidst the Sheraton Move in February 2020 to join Bersatu.

Meanwhile, Jayakumar quit PKR in March to become an independent MP in support of the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) government at the time.

With the two new additions, PBM now has six parliamentarians.

The other four are Zuraida, Tebrau MP Steven Choong, Julau MP Larry Sn’g and Lahad Datu MP Mohamaddin Ketapi.

Zuraida also said in her speech that they are looking at two more "potential prospects" joining the party from the Negeri Sembilan state assembly.

Zuraida new PBM president

Meanwhile, Zuraida was officially appointed as PBM president at the party’s annual general meeting, after she received unanimous support from the delegates who attended.

PBM information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid said they have been waiting for this moment for a long time and hope the leadership can streamline the party’s work.

There is also a proposal to establish three deputy president posts, with former president Sn’g to fill one of the positions, Zakaria added.

“All the motions brought by the delegates in this convention were decided unanimously,” he said, as reported by Free Malaysia Today.

As president, Zuraida has been given the mandate to negotiate with other political parties or coalitions, especially with regard to forming cooperation.

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