PETALING JAYA: Bagan Serai member of Parliament, Datuk Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali who had left Umno in June to be an independent lawmaker in Dewan Rakyat has joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).
Noor Ghazali membership card was presented by Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today after the party held its supreme council meeting.
Dr Mahathir who is the Prime Minister said Noor Ghazali was found to have qualified to be a Bersatu member after fulfilling several criteria.
"We welcome (Noor Ghazali) new membership. As we all know (Pakatan Harapan) numbers (in the parliament) are less than two-third of the total lawmakers.
"So, because of that, sometimes we were impeded from fulfilling our promises to the people (such as amending laws or constitution) which needs a two-third's majority vote.
"For these new Bersatu lawmakers, a regulation has been imposed on them, in which they cannot hold or be given any (government) position in the first year in the party," Dr Mahathir said in a press conference today.
Noor Ghazali in a short speech, thanked the party for accepting his membership.
"I have been independent for over five months. And today, which also my birthday, I am now a member of Bersatu."
PH now has 128 members of parliament.
Noor Ghazali was the latest MP to join Bersatu, Jeli MP Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed joined the party late last month.
Also joining the party today is Senator Council president Datuk Seri Khairudin E. S. Abd Samad, the council treasurer Datuk Suhaimi Abdullah, orang asli senator representative Isa Ab Hamid and Siamese senator representative Aknan Eh Took.