THREE more members of parliament are expected to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) before the next general election, says Zuraida Kamaruddin.

The party president-designate expressed confidence that the newly minted party will have a combined 14 lawmakers before the coming national polls.

“God willing, we will have incumbents contesting in seven parliamentary seats. Currently, we have four MPs and three more are expected to join the party,” she was quoted as saying by news portal The Star in Johor Baru today.

The Ampang lawmaker said there are five incumbents contesting state seats – three in Perak and two in Selangor.

She expected another two assemblymen to join the party but did not disclose which states they are from.

Apart from Zuraida, the three other MPs under PBM are Steven Choong (Tebrau), party president Larry Sng (Julau) and Mohamaddin Ketapi (Lahad Datu).

The assemblymen are A. Sivasubramaniam (Buntong), Paul Yong Choo Kiong (Tronoh) and Leong Cheok Keng (Malin Nawar) in Perak, as well as Haniza Mohamed Talha (Lembah Jaya) and Daroyah Alwi (Sementa) in Selangor.

Zuraida quit Bersatu in May, after deciding to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).

The plantation industries and commodities minister had, at that time, said she would discuss her position in the cabinet with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob. She remains in the cabinet to this day.

Zuraida earlier defected from PKR to Bersatu, a move that helped oust the Pakatan Harapan government in February 2020.

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

Zuraida has been MP for Ampang for 14 years. In 2018, while in PKR, she was appointed housing and local development minister, a post she held until the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan administration in 2020. – September 10, 2022.