KOTA KINABALU, Aug 28 — Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) said today it will join forces with so-called "left-leaning” Parti Kuasa Rakyat heading into the 15th general election (GE15).

PBM president Datuk Larry Sng said that both parties made the decision to be strategic partners, and PBM will soon update its party constitution to reflect some of Kuasa’s ideas.

"Following our decision to join forces, PBM will be having our annual general meeting on October 1 where we will discuss updating the party Constitution to incorporate views of Kuasa,” he said at a press conference here.

Kuasa, headed by Kamarazaman Yaakob, the brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, is a party claiming to hold socialist ideas but supports the current federal government.

Both PBM and Kuasa are friendly toward Barisan Nasional (BN) and have indicated a desire to join the pact, which lost the federal government in 2018 after six decades.

Sng, who is Julau MP, said that the party would be strengthened with the help of Kuasa, and intends to announce the names of more elected representatives that will be joining them on August 30.

"There will be more people, from Sarawak, Sabah and KL. We will make an announcement on the 30th and we can bring the numbers up,” he said, adding that the MPs are not just from Selangor and Perak but from other states.

Earlier today, the party welcomed its fourth elected representative, Lahad Datu MP Datuk Mohammadin Ketapi, who will also function as its state liaison chief.

They currently have four MPs — Sng (Julau), Mohammadin (Lahad Datu), Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin (Ampang) and Steven Choong (Tebrau).

Sng said PBM is excited about the latest developments in the party and is looking forward to discussing more ways for power sharing with Kuasa.

"We welcome them with full hearts. We will continue to support Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri and hope to bring further development to Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Kamaruzaman said that the party had come to the mutual decision to collaborate because of its potential to affect change on a national stage.

"We are two progressive forces that need to join powers to be presented as options for the people,” he claimed.

When asked to elaborate further on the "merging”, Kamaruzaman said that Kuasa members will be members of PBM but any movements moving forward will be decided by the party’s Supreme Council later.