PARTI Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali urged everyone not to equate with his former ally Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, who defected from the party to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM)
“I think there is no need to compare me with others (Zuraida) because I did not choose Bersatu under compulsion,” he said.
“In fact, I joined this party (Bersatu) because it is close to my heart as I want a progressive and inclusive party,” he said in response to speculation about his political intentions following Zuraida’s departure.
Azmin and Zuraida and a few others left PKR in March 2020 to align themselves with the Perikatan Nasional government led by Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
Azmin became Senior Minister (International Trade and Industry), a position he retained after Datuk Sero Ismail Sabri Yaakob of UMNO formed a new coalition government.
He dismissed rumours that he might rejoin PKR, after talk that he had allegedly met two PKR emissaries at Hotel Sheraton in Petaling Jaya recently.
“I met a lot of people and visited many hotels; I don’t remember whom I met. But that is just speculation,” he said.
Before he left PKR, Azmin had been deputy president of the party, and led the Pakatan Harapan state government in Selangor from 2013 to 2018 when he joined the Cabinet under Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then Bersatu chairman.
Azmin said he was prepared to stand anywhere at the next general election, including defending the Gombak parliamentary seat, as decided by the Bersatu leadership.
He said Bersatu had “made a paradigm shift” by opening the party to people of all races. “So, I need to defend and strengthen the party together with Muhyiddin,” he stated.
He added that policies introduced by Bersatu had helped to steer the country out of a health, economic and political crisis. – June 21, 2022
