SHAH ALAM -- The question of who will head the new party that was registered on October 27 last year, Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) was finally answered when Julau Member of Parliament, Larry Sng was appointed as the party's President.
The election results were decided by delegates from 12 PBM divisions who attended the party's Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held at a hotel in Sibu, Sarawak today (January 8)
Apart from Sng, a total of 30 members of the new PBM leadership committee were also appointed and elected in the EGM, including the appointment of former Selangor State Exco, Haniza Mohamed Talha and Wong Judat as Deputy President, besides Tebrau Member of Parliament, Steven Choong and State Assemblyman (ADUN) Buntong, A Sivasubramaniam as the party's Vice President.
More interestingly, another former Selangor State Exco, Dr Daroyah Alwi was appointed as the PBM Women Chief, while a former Perak State Exco from DAP, Paul Yong Choo Kiong was chosen as the party's Treasurer General.
When contacted Sng said, the EGM and the party election was made on the recommendation of the Registrar of Societies Malaysia (ROS) following the first EGM session held on November 14 last year was that considered incomplete.
He further explained that this was due to a technical issue in the formation of a new committee that previously consisted of former members of the Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) during the first EGM held last year.
"But now the problem has been resolved and PBM then took the opportunity to hold party elections from the post of president to the supreme council consisting of 25 people and five appointed members of the leadership committee.
"At the same time, the entire leadership, delegates and observers have also expressed their desire to support the leadership of the government that governs the country today and will work to ensure that the PBM agenda in upholding the aspirations of the people of various races and ethnicities in Malaysia, will be carried out," he told Sinar Premium today.
On December 21 last year, PBM entered the country's political arena when it was launched by Sng who was then the party's deputy president.
It is understood that PBM was formerly known as Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) with the RoS having approved the change of SWP's name to PBM and its new constitution.
PBM previously held an EGM on November 14 last year and new leadership was also appointed.
Previously, the president of PBM was Mohamad Sukri Yusri, while Sng was elected as the deputy president.
Several names such as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Datuk Zuraida Kamarudin and Senior Minister (Economy), Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali have also been speculated to lead the party.
Commenting further, Sng also stressed that 12 PBM divisions also proposed that the party be a component party in Barisan Nasional (BN) to face the 15th General Election (GE15).
He said the proposal had been agreed by the party's new leadership with further discussion with the BN Supreme Council to be held in the near future.
"This is because we see PBM as being able to be a multi-racial party option in the BN coalition to win as many important mixed seats in the peninsula and Sabah.
"This is coupled with the fact that BN has proven to have a stable party governance apart from being considered the most experienced coalition to govern the country, PBM's decision to be part of the BN component party is considered the right strategy," he said.
However, Sng, who is also the former chairman of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), admitted that the journey for PBM to be included as a BN component party is still a long way off because his party needs to go through several discussions with the component parties in BN itself.
"We will also express our intention to join BN to the BN Supreme Council in the near future and hope that the process will be expedited.
"With the total membership of PBM now reaching 70,000 people after being joined by 53,109 members of the Penggerak Komuniti Negara (PKN) wing as well as 30,000 former SWP members who remain with us, I am confident BN will receive great benefits if they accept us," he said.