ZURAIDA Kamaruddin’s decision to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and her resignation from her ministerial post will not have any effect on the country’s politics but will be detrimental to her own political future, political analysts said.

They said that her decision would also have little impact on Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration, given that PBM supports his government.

If anything, Zuraida’s decision to join PBM will have a negative impact on her if she decides to contest the Ampang seat that she has held over the last 14 years.

Professor James Chin of the University of Tasmania said Zuraida’s announcement was long anticipated.

“It was widely expected since PBM’s formation. People are now saying that she is holding PBM for Mohamed Azmin Ali (Gombak MP) to move over eventually,” Chin told The Malaysian Insight.

“There are no consequences for national politics because every party is preparing for the 15th general election.

“This is part of the GE15 move for Zuraida, Azmin and the rest of the gang,” he said, referring to the elected lawmakers who defected from PKR during the Sheraton Move in February 2020. The 11 of them then joined Bersatu in August the same year.

Her decisions will also have no impact on the ruling government, Chin said.

“It won’t really affect Ismail. He knows that his government is a pre-election government and everyone is already preparing for the GE.

“All this is minor, the picture is becoming clearer who will be a major player in the GE.”

In a statement yesterday morning, Zuraida announced she was joining PBM from Bersatu, and was resigning from her minister’s post.

She added that she believed in the struggles of PBM and was attracted by its core principles of multiracial engagement, women and youth empowerment, economic development, education and the advancement of science and technology to make Malaysia a developed nation.

Zuraida has been the MP for Ampang for 14 years.

In 2018, while in PKR, she was appointed housing and local government minister.

She then defected to Bersatu, along with Azmin and nine other PKR lawmakers, a move that caused the ouster of the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020.

She was again appointed minister in the subsequent Perikatan Nasional government, a role she retained after Muhyiddin Yassin was replaced by Ismail last August.

Oh Ei Sun of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs said Zuraida’s move to PBM signals the start of the migration of other members of Azmin’s team to the party.

“Well, it would appear that this is the start of the migration of Azmin’s team to PBM, and thus the emergence of a new political force on the scene,” Oh said.

PBM was registered on October 27, 2021, helmed by Julau MP Larry Sng. The party now has three parliamentarians – Zuraida, Sng and Steven Choong (Tebrau).

Oh said since Zuraida has not withdrawn her support for Ismail, there was no impact to him or his administration.

“Zuraida, I think, can be appeased with a suitable political appointment that is not a ministership. And PBM is still part of the ruling coalition,” he said.

Zuraida could lose Ampang seat

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia political analyst Mazlan Ali, meanwhile, said Zuraida’s decision to join PBM might ultimately lead her to lose the Ampang seat.

“She will have difficulty defending Ampang if she contests under PBM,” Mazlan said.

“She has a bigger chance of winning if she contests under Bersatu. As we saw, in the Johor state election, PBM lost all its deposits. It will struggle to survive.”

Mazlan said Zuraida was only popular because of PKR and Bersatu.

“Zuraida is strong because of PKR, with Bersatu she is still relevant because it has PAS. With PBM, they don’t have any influence,” he said.

There is also a high likelihood for those who defected from PKR alongside her to join PBM, he said.

“There is a possibility that others will join Zuraida. Their idealism is different from Umno and Bersatu, both of which are Malay nationalist parties.

“They are more used to being in a multiracial party.” – May 26, 2022.