PUTRAJAYA: Bersatu secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin said Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin was removed from the party's supreme council after she was issued a show-cause letter two weeks ago.
"In fact, Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also agreed to replace her with another candidate (in the supreme council)," he said.
Hamzah's comments came after Zuraida announced her decision to resign as the plantations industries and commodities minister and that she has left Bersatu to join Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM).
The Ampang member of parliament, in a statement today, said she decided to join PBM as she resonated with the new party's principles and struggles.
Hamzah said he has already sent a show-cause letter to Zuraida on May 9, seeking explanations for her participation in several PBM activities and her stance on the party.
Zuraida, he said, replied on May 23 and refuted claims that she had joined PBM and asked that she be allowed to submit the relevant evidence to the party's disciplinary committee.
Contrary to that, Zuraida later made an announcement that she had joined the new party.
"So, we understood that she was eventually going to leave Bersatu. I will raise this matter during the supreme council meeting. But, she has not tendered her resignation so far," he told reporters during the Immigration Department's Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, here, today.
Also present were Deputy Home Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Mohamed, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Zuki Ali and Immigration Department director-general Datuk Seri Khairul Dzaimee Daud.
Hamzah said Zuraida was also not active in Bersatu in the past and was absent from at least six party meetings.
As such, he said, her resignation will not affect Bersatu since the party's struggles remain unchanged.