Zuraida Kamaruddin

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Kamaruddin is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Zuraida. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.

Yang Berhormat Datuk Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin PMW MP
زريدة قمرالدين‎
File:Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin.png
Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities
Incumbent
Assumed office 30 August 2021
Monarch	Abdullah
Prime Minister	Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Deputy	Wee Jeck Seng (Deputy Minister I) Willie Mongin (Deputy Minister II)
Preceded by	Khairuddin Razali
Succeeded by	TBA
Constituency	Ampang
Minister of Housing and Local Government
In office 10 March 2020 – 16 August 2021
Monarch	Abdullah
Prime Minister	Muhyiddin Yassin
Deputy	Ismail Abdul Muttalib
Preceded by	Herself
Succeeded by	Reezal Merican Naina Merican
Constituency	Ampang
In office 21 May 2018 – 24 February 2020
Monarchs	Muhammad V (2018–2019) Abdullah (2019–2020)
Prime Minister	Mahathir Mohamad
Deputy	Raja Kamarul Bahrin
Preceded by	Noh Omar (Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government)
Succeeded by	Herself
Constituency	Ampang
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Ampang
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 March 2008
Preceded by	Rozaidah Talib (BN–UMNO)
Majority	3,676 (2008) 13,278 (2013) 41,956 (2018)
Member of the Supreme Council of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party
In office 8 September 2020 – 12 May 2022
President	Muhyiddin Yassin
Vice President of the People's Justice Party
In office 18 November 2018 – 24 February 2020 Serving with Rafizi Ramli (2018–2020) & Chua Tian Chang (2018–2020) & Chang Lih Kang (2018–2020) & Xavier Jayakumar Arulanandam (2018–2020) & Ali Biju (2018–2020) & Nurul Izzah Anwar (2018)
President	Anwar Ibrahim
Women Chief of the People's Justice Party
In office 27 May 2007 – 18 November 2018
President	Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Deputy	Haniza Mohamed Talha (2007–2010 & 2014–2018) Daroyah Alwi (2010–2014)
Preceded by	Fuziah Salleh
Succeeded by	Haniza Mohamed Talha
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
2008–2018	People's Justice Party
2018–2020	Pakatan Harapan
2020	Malaysian United Indigenous Party
2020–2022	Perikatan Nasional
2022–	Parti Bangsa Malaysia
Personal details
Born	Zuraida binti Kamaruddin (1958-03-14) 14 March 1958 Colony of Singapore
Nationality	Malaysian
Political party	People's Justice Party (PKR) (–2020) Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) (2020–2022) Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) (since 2022)
Other political affiliations	Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2008–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (2015–2020) Perikatan Nasional (PN) (2020–2022, aligned: since 2022) Barisan Nasional (BN) (aligned:since 2020)
Spouse	Faridi Yaakob
Occupation	Politician

Datuk Zuraida binti Kamaruddin (Jawi: زريدة بنت قمرالدين; born 14 March 1958) is a Malaysian politician who has served as outgoing Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob since August 2021. As of June 2022, her resignation from the position is pending. She also served as the Minister of Housing and Local Government twice in the Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration under former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin from March 2020 to August 2021 and the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration in February 2020. She has also served the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ampang since March 2008. She has been a member of the Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM), a party that is aligned with the ruling BN coalition, since May 2022. She was a member of Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), a component party of the ruling PN coalition that is also aligned with the ruling BN coalition, from February 2020 to her resignation from the party in May 2022 for joining PBM and was also a member of the People's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the PH and formerly Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions to her resignation from the party in February 2020 for joining BERSATU with her key political ally, then-Deputy President of PKR and then-Minister of Economic Affairs Azmin Ali and several MPs aligned with Azmin.

Zuraida was elected to Parliament in the 2008 Malaysian general election, gaining the seat of Ampang from the then-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. She was reelected in the 2013 and in the 2018 Malaysian general election.

Non-political career

She started working in the private sector in 1980 at Frank Small & Associates, Australia. She held the position of Qualitative Study Manager before progressing to Chuo Senko Advertising (Japan) as Marketing Research and Account Planning Manager. In addition, she has worked with American International Assurance (AIA), Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, AVON (M) Berhad and Flaireborne (M) Sdn Bhd.

In 1998, she became a training and motivational consultant to advise organizations such as Petronas, Municipal Council, Oriflame, Nutrimetics, Shinetsu, Texas and marketing, advertising and merchandise research companies.

Other posts include being a member of the Board of Directors of Maahad Tahfiz Az-Zahra, Adviser of ALQAS Education & Charity Home, GEMMA Humanitarian Relief Advisor and Malaysian Student Association in Yemen. She is also a founder and chairwoman of WIRDA having members locally and overseas. WIRDA is a Community Service Center that handles counseling and protection to the needy groups including single mothers, travelers, converts and teens.

Political career

Zuraida won her Ampang seat in the 2008 general election representing PKR, defeating her predecessor Rozaidah Talib with a majority of 3,676 votes. She successfully defended the seat in both the 2013 and 2018 general elections with increased majorities.

She also served as the Women's Chief for PKR before being succeeded by Haniza Talha. She was elected to become vice-president of PKR and concurrently served as Women's Chief for Pakatan Harapan until 24 February 2020 (see Expulsion from PKR)

She is also the Chairwoman of the Selangor Women's Institute of IWB (IWB). The IWB is a Selangor State Government think tank acting as a policy framework to ensure women's development will take priority in the state.

Expulsion and departure from PKR

Main article: 2020 Malaysian political crisis

On 24 February 2020, PKR general-secretary Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced in a press conference that the Minister of Economic Affairs, Azmin Ali who was also the Deputy President, and Zuraida had been expelled from the party for their actions on 23 October 2019 which went against the party's stance regarding the position of the Prime Minister. In reaction to Azmin and Zuraida's expulsion, eight MPs from PKR aligned towards Azmin subsequently left the party to form an "independent bloc". On 28 February 2020, Zuraida along with the rest of the "independent bloc" joined Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU), a component party of Pakatan Harapan until pulling out of the coalition on 24 February.

Alleged involvements and subsequent joining of PBM and resignation as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities

On 25 January 2022, the Supreme Council of BERSATU met to discuss the issue on the possibility to expel Zuraida from the party due to her alleged involvements in another party PBM, but no actions was taken after the meeting. On 2 February 2022, the Secretary General of PBM Nor Hizwan Ahmad clarified that Zuraida was not a member of PBM. On 22 March 2022, Supreme Council member of BERSATU, Muhammad Faiz Na’aman criticised Zuraida on her absence in helping to campaign for BERSATU in the 2022 Johor state election and suggested that this was a subtle betrayal to BERSATU and urged the party to take serious disciplinary actions against Zuraida. Subsequently on 26 May 2022, she finally announced that she had decided to leave BERSATU for PBM and her pending resignation as Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities. Following this, she also noted that discussions with the Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob would be held as soon as possible on the issue of her pending resignation. Almost immediately after her resignation from BERSATU. PBM secretary-general Nor Hizwan Ahmad clarified that the PBM membership application of Zuraida was still being processed and would still have to go through relevant and proper channels. BERSATU information chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan said that PN chairman and BERSATU president Muhyiddin Yassin would pick her replacement for the Prime Minister to appoint, BERSATU youth chief Wan Ahmad Fayhsal also pointed that the Cabinet position Zuraida was resigning from belonged to BERSATU. On the same day, BN chairman and UMNO president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi also urged Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob to appoint someone loyal to their parties to replace Zuraida and stressed that there should be no compromise when it came to leaders who leave their political party but insist in remaining in the Cabinet.Minister of Health Khairy Jamaluddin from BN and UMNO also stressed that it was all up to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri to decide the replacement of Zuraida and there was no need for others to pressurise Ismail. Muhyiddin also thanked Zuraida for her contributions to BERSATU and informed that her BERSATU membership was automatically nullified after she joined PBM. On 27 May 2022, PBM president and Julau MP Larry Sng said that the status of PBM membership application of Zuraida would be decided and announced after he returned from overseas next month on 7 June 2022. On 28 May 2022, Ismail Sabri clarified that she was still a minister and has yet to officially tender her resignation to him and could still attend Cabinet meetings. At the time of Zuraida announcing her pending resignation, both Ismail and Zuraida were overseas for duties. He also gave his respect to views and opinions on the issue and noted that they would only discuss the issue after returning to Malaysia. On 29 May 2022, it was reported that Zuraida denied that she was a "problematic" member of BERSATU in her replies to a show-cause letter from BERSATU. She wrote that she spoke with Muhyiddin the idea of forming a new multiracial party to provide added value and be a subsidiary to BERSATU as it would increase support for BERSATU with the background of PBM which commands the support of the grassroots who numbered 400,000 people would definitely benefit BERSATU. Zuraida received the letter on 11 May 2022 for repeatedly participating in PBM activities that violated the discipline of the party, and she replied it on 23 May 2022. Zuraida said that problems arose when former PKR members who wanted to join BERSATU were not accepted and their membership applications were even delayed. She said this group, which consisted of political activists with extensive experience and key positions in the party, was not fully utilised to assist the development of BERSATU. She also pointed that they seemed to be marginalised and the real potential could not be highlighted, which was ultimately a loss for BERSATU. In dismissing the allegation that she joined PBM while still with BERSATU, Zuraida asked the office of BERSATU secretary-general to submit evidence to support the allegation. She further explained that her relationships, activities and movements are outside my political capacity with non-governmental organisation, Pertubuhan Penggerak Komuniti Negara (PKN), which she established as early as 2018 to strengthen her relationship with communities throughout the country and that matter could not be used as a basis for this accusation. She also stressed that the decision of the majority of PKR leaders to join PBM should not be blamed directly on her. PKR information chief and Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil said that the move of Zuraida to join PBM would pose no threats to PKR and he believed that PKR members would not be influenced to join PBM. He took dig on the issue and cited the "rather dull" performance of PBM in the 2022 Johor state election by saying that "PBM's performance in the recent Johor state polls was rather dull. They are relatively unknown and even when the Tebrau MP Choong Shiau Yoon contested using the PBM ticket, the response was not good" and further saying "If you say there are those who want to jump, I think all of them have jumped during the Sheraton Move. In Lembah Pantai, those who had jumped to leave the party previously have now applied to rejoin PKR". Even only a few days after Zuraida resigned from BERSATU, there was already big row over her position as minister. BN and UMNO leaders were already staking a claim for the position of Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, saying that it is the prerogative of Prime Minister to appoint the minister and not for any party to dictate terms. UMNO secretary-general and Pontian MP Ahmad Maslan added that Bersatu was a weakened party and was in no position to make demands. He further added that “When BERSATU lost its MP, it should not pressurise the Prime Minister to give it the vacant ministerial position. It has no right to do so. BERSATU is not getting stronger but weaker instead. Ismail Sabri should be given the freedom as it is his prerogative.” Ahmad also said the action of Zuraida proved that there was a need for the anti-hopping law, "if the law had been enforced, Zuraida would not have left BERSATU” at the open house of former Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad. Minister of Housing and Local Government from BN and UMNO Reezal Merican Naina Merican also said all parties should respect the prerogative of the Prime Minister in appointing a Cabinet minister.“We will leave it to him, as he has the wisdom” after the presentation of Malaysia Book of Records (MBOR) recognition to LBS Bina Group Bhd. However, Minister of Home Affairs and BERSATU secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin slammed UMNO and said that an agreement had been made over the number of Cabinet appointments from BERSATU with both Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri. This formed the point of contention of where her replacement will come from, with some stating that the prerogative to make the appointment lies with the Prime Minister while others say that the individual should be from BERSATU.

On 1 June 2022, Ismail Sabri reiterated that discussions about the issue have yet to be held and hence a decision was yet to be reached as well before Zuraida returned to Malaysia. On 2 June 2022, she added that she would meet PM Ismail Sabri soon and there would a special press conference after their meeting which a decision on the issue would be reached during it. She also reiterated the stance of allowing Ismail Sabri to decide on the issue. On 7 June 2022 after officiating the Global Funding for Rubber Innovation (GFRI) of Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC), she noted that Ismail Sabri had informed her of a meeting within the week and she was on "standby" to meet him on the issue but she was not aware of its exact timing. She also reiterated that only the Prime Minister held prerogative to decide on the issue and she would "do the needful" if she was asked to give up the position and not other parties like her former party BERSATU. On her development in PBM, she clarified that her membership was still being process and there was no decision yet on what positions she would assume in PBM. She also expressed her confidence in retaining the Ampang federal seat but left her status in the next Malaysian general election to PBM to decide. On 8 June 2022, Senior Minister and Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein added that there was no discussions on the issue during the Cabinet meeting that day at the announcement for Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) 2023. On the same day, PBM vice-president and Tebrau MP Steven Choong stressed that Zuraida was an important asset to PBM and the party welcomed Zuraida with open arms and there was no opposition from PBM to accept Zuraida into the party in a press conference on Jalan Indah Gemilang. She also commended Zuraida as "known public figure and leader as well as one of the most hardworking ministers I know". He also highlighted that PBM president Larry Sng would initially have a discussion with Zuraida and PBM members would subsequently have it on her issue of joining PBM and her position in the party. He also said that the position must suit her experience and there were suggesstions for Zuraida to appointed as PBM general chairman.

Controversies

In 5 January 2022, Zuraida's spirited defence of palm oil in Malaysia, including her assertion that they were not harming the orangutan population and the primates were more likely to kill humans than the other way round, has gained social media attention.

Zuraida's office has clarified that her controversial comments about human-harming orangutans had been uttered in “jest”.

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia: P99 Ampang, Selangor

Year	Government		Votes	Pct	Opposition		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2008		Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR)	26,995	53.50%		Azman Wahid (UMNO)	23,319	46.21%	51,097	3,676	73.91%
2013		Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR)	41,969	59.25%		Rozaidah Talib (UMNO)	28,691	40.50%	71,575	13,278	86.09%
2018		Zuraida Kamaruddin (PKR)	54,307	70.94%		Leong Kim Soon (MCA)	12,351	16.13%	76,550	41,956	84.50%
						Nurul Islam Yusoff (PAS)	9,598	12.54%
						Tan Hua Meng (PRM)	294	0.38%

Honour

• Federal Territory (Malaysia) :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (PMW) – Datuk (2021)

See also

• Ampang (federal constituency)