Dr Mahathir believes new party will divide PN votes
In a media conference today, ex-PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad says he believes a new party he is creating will divide votes.
It is hoped the party may garner support from the Malay voter bank, which is heavily in favour of the Malay coalition in power, the Perikatan Nasional.
The PN is a loose coalition with PM Muhyiddin Yassin as leader with the support of the Muafakat Nasional formed by the Umno and the Islamist PAS.
NO NAME?
Mahathir did not reveal the name of the new party but sources say it may be called the Parti Pribumi Rakyat Malaysia or PPRM.
Mahathir quit as PM in February and was not allowed to form a new government because he did not have the support of the majority of MPs in Parliament.
With his resignation, he sent the Pakatan Harapan into the opposition and this soured relations between Mahathir and Anwar Ibrahim the leader of the PH.
With the new party, which is yet to be formed, Mahathir says he will not join the PH nor the PN.
SNAP POLLS
Malaysia is expecting snap polls anytime with the Sabah snap poll date to be announced in the coming weeks.
There is the possibility that Mahathir’s party will be registered in time for fresh general elections which the Muhyiddin Yassin government is expected to call sooner than later.
It is possible the general elections may be called at the same time with the Sabah elections.
The state of Sabah dissolved its state assembly last week after an attempt by the PN to overthrow the PH government headed by Shafee Apdal.
DIVIDING MALAY VOTES
While he said his new party will not join the PH because there are some hiccups between him and some parties in the PH, it is believed his party will not contribute to the victory of the PN, to the least.
However, it is difficult to believe Dr Mahathir’s party will contribute to the PH victory either.
Mahathir says his party will fight corruption and kleptokracy, which is the battle cry of the PH.
Either he will have to align with the PH or play the role of the third force, but the fact is he may end up dividing the PH voter base too.
The point is if it is a third force, it has to fight both coalitions and this does not augur well for Dr Mahathir.
The latter lost all support from his party, Bersatu, which shunned him and joined the Umno-PAS and the defectors from the PKR of Anwar Ibrahim to form the new government.
The Bersatu won only 12 seats in the last general elections, seats mostly attributed by the PH to the new party.
Mahathir managed to secure the support of 5 MPs with the remainder pulling the party from the PH to join the PN.