AMID an internal leadership tussle, one disputed faction said Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) will enter the general election without any coalition partner.

Zuraida Kamaruddin, at odds with Larry Sng on who is the rightful president, said PBM has decided not to work with any other political parties in the coming polls.

The party had previously sought entry to the Barisan Nasional pact.

“We will go into the election solo and will not be working with any other parties,” she said in a press conference today.

Zuraida also said that the party would settle the leadership dispute internally.

She however did not respond to reporters when pressed on the matter further.

Four days ago, Sng insisted he was the legitimate president and suspended the party’s secretary-general and information chief with immediate effect.

Sng, in a statement on his Facebook, said the suspension of secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad and information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid was in relation to the supreme council meeting held on October 7, which he said he did not call for.

Yesterday, Sng suspended the membership of Zuraida and 12 supreme council members.

The dozen suspended supreme council members suspended are Haniza Mohamad Talha, Dr Daroyah Alwi, Rahimah Majid, Dr Sathiskumar Govindaraju, Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari, Na’im Brundage, Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Muniraa Abu Bakar, Chua Lian Chye, Roger Tan Seng Huat and Albakri Salim.

Nor Hizwan disputed the suspensions, saying the incumbent Julau MP did not have the power to make such a decision as he was no longer the president. 

Nor Hizwan said according to the party constitution, Zuraida is the legitimate president.

He said the appointment of Zuraida was agreed at the party’s annual general meeting on October 1 and that minutes of the meeting were sent to the Registrar of Societies.

It was also decided in the early days of the party that Sng would yield the presidency to Zuraida, he said.

The dispute, if not solved soon, could leave Zuraida party-less as the nomination day for the general election is set to take place on November 5.

Zuraida and her supporters had left Bersatu to join PBM. They were previously in PKR and had defected from the party during the Sheraton Move in February 2020. – October 30, 2022.