.jpg "Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin speaks during a press conference at Parliament in Kuala Lumpur July 14, 2020. u00e2u20acu201d Picture by Yusof Mat Isa")
KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 — The former PKR lawmakers who left the party with Gombak MP Datuk Seri Azmin Ali were seated with Bersatu MPs in the Dewan Rakyat as it was “strategic” for them to do so, said Zuraida Kamaruddin.
The housing and local government minister also told reporters today that the 11 MPs who helped form the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government have not joined Bersatu yet.
“For strategic reasons in the Dewan Rakyat, we are labelled as Bersatu but we are not technically in Bersatu. We are still refining how we should be moving into Bersatu.
“We are waiting for Bersatu to finish its party elections and annual general meeting first. Then we will move into Bersatu. We are also waiting for them to amend the party constitution.
“Currently, for strategic reasons, we have agreed to use Bersatu as our platform in Dewan Rakyat,” said Zuraida.
Azmin and his faction left PKR in February after his long-running cold war with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim erupted into open hostilities prior to his exit.
Their departure, along with Langkawi MP Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as prime minister, had triggered the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration after 22 months in government.
The Perikatan Nasional administration took over in the vacuum, with Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as the prime minister supported by Umno, PAS and GPS.
Azmin and his group were initially presented as joining Bersatu but later clarified that they have not yet entered the party officially and were technically independents.
