Ex-minister Salleh applies to join PKR, decision awaited
(FMT) – Former federal minister Salleh Said Keruak has applied to join PKR, but approval is pending while it goes through the process, party officials said today.
Sabah PKR vice-president Kenny Chua said Salleh, a former communications and multimedia minister, had applied to join the party online.
“But the application has to go through the party’s Kota Belud division first. We leave it to Mustapha Sakmud, who is the division chief, to go through the application and make an announcement if necessary,” Chua said when contacted by FMT.
Mustapha is also the Sabah PKR deputy chief.
Chua however said the application must go through the state leadership after the division leader has vetted the application.
“That is the procedure,” Chua said.
In Petaling Jaya, PKR communications chief Fahmi Fadzil said in a brief statement this evening that “I am given to understand that the party has received an online application from Salleh. The PKR political bureau will discuss the matter at a forthcoming meeting.”
According to Utusan Malaysia Online, a check of PKR’s membership rolls showed that Salleh had been recorded as being a member of Kota Belud PKR on Aug 25, with the membership number S0300008562.
FMT is trying to reach Salleh for comment.
News that Salleh had applied to join the party comes a month after he denied rumours that he would join PKR, along with former Dewan Rakyat speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.
Pandikar and Salleh are both part of Usbo, an association that looks after the welfare of the Bajau community, particularly those in the west coast of Sabah.
Salleh is the son of Mohammad Said Keruak, a former Chief Minister and later Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sabah in the mid-1970s.
He was later to become chief minister himself, from 1994 to 1996, Speaker of the Sabah state assembly from 2010 to 2015 and minister of information and communications from July 2015 to May 2018.
He contested the Kota Belud parliamentary seat in the 2018 general election but was defeated by his cousin, Parti Warisan Sabah candidate Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis.
