Azmin dismisses speculations over new party

International Trade and Industry Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali today dismissed speculations that he is forming a new political party.

The former PKR deputy president said the Perikatan Nasional government, which he is a part of, will focus on serving the people.

When asked to shed light on the alleged new party, Azmin (above) told the media in Kuala Lumpur: "the question of forming a new party does not arise as we are focusing on serving the people."

When asked about his membership status in Bersatu, Azmin briefly said that he is new to the party.

"I am still new. (I) have to go through a certain process," he said.

For the record, on March 11, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had announced during a media conference that Azmin and nine other MPs who left PKR had joined Bersatu.

Then on May 23, Marzuki Yahya who was Bersatu secretary-general at the time, revealed that Azmin and the nine had yet to submit application forms to join the party. Marzuki was later sacked by Muhyiddin who is Bersatu president.

Earlier today, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin said that the Registrar of Societies (ROS) had not received any application from Azmin about a new party.

"Where did you get this information? Don't listen to rumours. Azmin never informed me about forming a new party. ROS received a lot of applications to form parties but none from Azmin," he told Malay daily Berita Harian.

Speculations were rife that Azmin and other former PKR leaders were in the midst of forming a new party known as Parti Keadilan Negara.

- Mkini