Sng did not follow procedure to suspend us - Haniza

SHAH ALAM - Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) suspended Deputy President Haniza Mohamed Talha has argued that the suspension action on 12 Supreme Council members and Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin is invalid.

Haniza said this was because they held the positions after being elected by the party members instead of being placed by appointment.

She insisted that the 13 named were still PBM members and any suspensions must follow party’s established procedures and constitution.

"We can be fired if we are appointed by the president itself but we are elected by the party members.

"How can the elected member be thrown out just like that, the suspension also invalid," she said.

She added that any decision must be determined in meeting using the proper channels and not via a Facebook posting.

Things took a suprising turn on Friday when PBM President Larry Sng announced the suspension of the Zuraida and 12 Supreme Council members for alleged indiscipline.

Haniza said Sng did not follow the party’s constitution where such decisions needed to be made in Supreme Council or the party’s Annual General Conference party.

She said he had made the decision by himself; unbecoming as a president to dismiss or suspend a person’s membership on his own.

“He can't abuse the power and should follow the procedures,” she said.

Sng was quoted saying that Zuraida was an ordinary member of PBM, not party president.

Sng had said the suspensions were in relation to the members’ involvement in undermining the interest of the party and its leadership.

He had added that their positions will be suspended until a disciplinary committee is established to look into the matter after the coming general election.

The decision was made a day after PBM secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad and information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid was suspended, after they had called for Supreme Council meeting on Oct 7. Sng had said that he did not call for the meeting despite being party president.

In that meeting, the council agreed that Zuraida would replace Sng as PBM president.

The Supreme Council members who were suspended are Daroyah Alwi, Haniza Mohamad Talha, Rahimah Majid, Sathiskumar Govindaraju, Muhammad Saiful Bahari Sahari, Na’im Brundage, Abdul Aziz Abdul Kadir, Zakaria Abdul Rahim, Muniraa Abu Bakar, Chua Lian Chye, Roger Tan and Albakri Salim.