Parti Bangsa Malaysia

Early history

The party was initially known as the Sabah People's Front, founded in 2010 as a successor to the Federated Sabah People's Front (BERSEKUTU) by Berman Angkap.^[1]

It was renamed the Sarawak Workers Party (SWP) following a takeover by former Sarawak Peoples' Party (PRS) members in 2012.^[2][3] The party's inaugural president was Larry Sng, a former assistant minister under Abdul Taib Mahmud. Larry's father, businessman and politician Sng Chee Hua, was reported to be the party's primary backer.^[4]

The party branded itself Barisan Nasional (BN)-friendly, but later opened itself to co-operation with the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition, including possibly becoming a member.^[5][6]

In the 2013 general election, the party announced its intention to stand only in seats held by the Sarawak Peoples' Party, but denied any vendetta against it.^[7]

In 2016, Larry announced that he would be resigning as SWP president ahead of the 2016 Sarawak state election, in which he was set to contest.^[8]

Under Engga Unchat's leadership, the party formed Gabungan Anak Sarawak (GASAK) with the Sarawak People's Aspiration Party (ASPIRASI) and New Sarawak Native People's Party (PBDSB) in 2020.^[9]

As Parti Bangsa Malaysia

The party was renamed Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) and registered as a national-level party on 27 October 2021,^[10] with new leadership elected on 14 November, including party president Mohamad Sukri Yusri. Larry, who had been elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Julau as an independent in 2018, was named deputy president.^[11] It declared its support for Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) during the 2021 Sarawak state election,^[12] and supported the Ismail Sabri cabinet in parliament.

Larry was elected president during an extraordinary general meeting on 8 January 2022,^[13] which also elected a new leadership line-up^[14] that included a number of elected representatives who were former members of other parties; Leong Cheok Keng, Paul Yong Choo Kiong, Sivasubramaniam Athinarayanan, formerly of the Democratic Action Party (DAP),^[15] and Haniza Talha, Daroyah Alwi, and Choong Shiau Yoon, formerly of the People's Justice Party (PKR).^[16] The party also announced its intention to become a member of Barisan Nasional.^[17]

The party was joined by Zuraida Kamaruddin, the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, in June 2022 whereupon she became the party's president-designate.^[18] Her membership was preceded by a non-governmental organisation associated with her and her ministry joining the party en masse in December 2021.^[19] In August 2022, MP Mohamaddin Ketapi joined the party,^[20] followed by deputy tourism minister Edmund Santhara and MP Xavier Jayakumar in October, which gave the party a total of six representatives in parliament.^[21]

Also in August, the party announced that it and Parti Kuasa Rakyat would co-operate, and that the possible dissolution and merger of Parti Kuasa Rakyat into the party would be discussed.^[22] Ultimately, no decision was made to this effect.^[23]

A leadership dispute began in October 2022, after the party's information chief announced that Zuraida had been elected president at its annual general assembly.^[24] Larry initially challenged the appointment, but was later quoted as saying he would accept the decision.^[25] However, with his name still recorded as the party's president by the state registrar,^[26] he reversed his position and suspended Zuraida, the party's secretary-general, information chief, and 10 other supreme council members.^[a][27][28]

The dispute was temporarily set aside for the 2022 general election.^[29] In that election, the party contested five parliamentary seats (Hulu Selangor, Kapar, Labuan, Ampang and Julau) and two state assembly seats (Tronoh and Bugaya). Larry was returned as the party's sole MP in Julau.^[30][31] Subsequently, Zuraida and 10 other members of the party's supreme council were expelled.^[32] A judicial review filed by Zuraida was rejected by the High Court.^[33]

Following the election, the party supported the formation of and joined the Anwar Ibrahim cabinet, colloquially referred to as the unity government. It was not afforded a ministerial position.^[34]

On 14 February 2023, Sng announced a new supreme council line-up for the party, including former Sri Aman MP Masir Kujat as the new party secretary general.^[35][36] On 14 June, Sng announced that PBM will not contest in any of the 6 states involved in 2023 Malaysian state elections, instead supporting candidates fielded by the parties in the unity government,^[37] despite being the incumbent in two seats in Selangor. Nor did it contest in the 2025 Sabah state election.^[38]

Dewan Negara (Senate)

Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives)

Members of Parliament of the 15th Malaysian Parliament

Main article: Members of the Dewan Rakyat, 15th Malaysian Parliament

PBM has 1 member in the House of Representatives:

More information State, No. ...

State	No.	Parliament Constituency	Member	Party
Sarawak	P209	Julau	Larry Sng		PBM
Total	Sarawak (1)

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Dewan Undangan Negeri (State Legislative Assembly)

State governments

At its height PBM supported the BN government in Perak and GRS in Sabah and opposed the PH government of Selangor, only to lose them through state election and defections.

• Perak (2022)
• Sabah (2022)

Note: bold as Menteri Besar/Chief Minister, italic as junior partner