Bloc of 11 MPs led by Azmin likely to join Mahathir's PPBM

PETALING JAYA • The newly formed independent bloc of 11 MPs led by former Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Azmin Ali will join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) soon, a source said yesterday.

This is to enlarge the PPBM faction which now comprises 26 MPs, the source added.

"Currently, the bloc of the party of Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad has only 26 and with them joining, it will be 37."

Barisan Nasional's (BN) 42 MPs include 39 from Umno, two from the Malaysian Chinese Association and one from the Malaysian Indian Congress.

"All but one of the 11 lawmakers in Azmin's bloc are bumiputera. There won't be any problem being accepted," the source said, referring to PPBM's Bumiputera-Malay outlook.

"That one non-bumiputera MP will be joining Bersatu as an associate member. In fact, Dr Mahathir has offered them membership before but they were hesitant as they were thinking of their non-Malay voters. This is a temporary measure until things settle down."

Earlier, there was talk of Datuk Seri Azmin's faction joining Gerakan, a party that left BN after the 2018 General Election.

Gerakan did not win any seats in the last general election.

The source said that allowing the 11 lawmakers to join PPBM would allow it to become bigger and thus easier to back the leadership of Dr Mahathir, rather than joining a smaller party.

The 11 MPs include four former full Cabinet ministers - Mr Azmin himself, Madam Zuraida Kamaruddin, Mr Saifuddin Abdullah and Mr Baru Bian.

PKR, which is led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, had 50 MPs previously and was the biggest among the four Pakatan Harapan parties.

Now PKR has 39 federal lawmakers left.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK