Mahathir launches new party as Malaysia’s power struggle intensifies
- The new party, yet to be named, will not be aligned to the country’s major alliances and will contest snap polls expected in months
- Party’s formation follows a court’s dismissal of a law suit by Mahathir and four allies over their sacking from the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia
Mahathir, who has felled three prime ministers in seven decades and occupied the hot seat twice himself, said in a press conference the new Malay-centric party would not align itself with either of the country’s major political blocs – Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional or the opposition Pakatan Harapan alliance.
The party has yet to be registered and has also not been given an official name. Mahathir said for now the party would be referred to as Bebas (independent).
The 95-year-old politician said he was forming the new party as other Malay-centric parties, including the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) he co-founded in 2016, had strayed from their original objectives of championing the interests of the majority Malay population.
“Our objective remains to eradicate kleptocracy and corruption,” Mahathir said. “We find that the Malay parties ... in the past always won two-thirds majority [in parliament]. But now under this new leadership, they are more interested in using their authority to take money for themselves,” he said.
While the party will predominantly concern itself with Malay issues, it will also champion the interests of the country’s minority groups, Mahathir said. “We are very aware that we are a multiracial country,” he said.