KOTA KINABALU: Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) will defend the six parliamentary seats previously held by its party members in the 15th General Election (GE15)."

PBM Information Chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid said the six seats are Lahad Datu, Ampang, Segamat, Tebrau, Kuala Langat and Julau.

“PBM has already decided that we will contest the seats currently held by our incumbents. Before the dissolution of Parliament, we had six incumbent seats, namely Ampang, Segamat, Tebrau, Kuala Langat, Julau and Lahad Datu. These seats will be our focus in the upcoming election,” he said.

Zakaria added that the decision was based on the incumbents’ strong track records in GE14, as well as the cooperation established between PBM and Barisan Nasional (BN) at the federal level.

“Why are we fielding the incumbents? Because they already have a proven track record. For example, in Ampang, our party president, Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, has won the Ampang seat three times and is very well known among voters there.

“We are very confident that Datuk Zuraida will win the seat again and, in turn, contribute the seat to Barisan Nasional,” Zakaria said.

He also explained that the cooperation between PBM and Barisan Nasional (BN) at the federal level would be extended to Sabah in GE15.

He said the cooperation would include ensuring the victory of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) candidates as BN’s coalition partners in the state.

According to PBM Information Chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid, the cooperation would include efforts to secure victories for GRS candidates, who are BN’s coalition partners in Sabah.

For the record, PBM previously had six parliamentary seats — Ampang, Julau, Segamat, Tebrau, Kuala Langat and Lahad Datu — after the six Members of Parliament, namely Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin, Datuk Larry Soon, Datuk Seri Santhara Kumar, Steven Choong, Datuk Xavier Jayakumar and Datuk Mohammadin Ketapi, decided to join the party.

PBM, led by Zuraida as its president, was also reported to be awaiting a decision from BN chairman Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi on the party’s admission into BN, after openly expressing its support for the government led by then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri.