He might be well into his 90s but if there’s one thing to be said about Mahathir bin Mohamad, it’s that he doesn’t give up.
In August 2020, it was reported that Dr Mahathir, Malaysia’s former prime minister, is preparing to make his third comeback in Malaysia’s political scene.
This time, with a new party.
Everything About Mahathir’s New Party Simplified for You
On 7 Aug 2020, Dr Mahathir told the media that he wants to form a new independent political party.
The party will be Malay-based, and it will not be part of the ruling Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition or the opposition Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.
The reason, he says, is because he has “problems” with one of the parties in PH.
Making Malaysia An “Asian Tiger” Again
The party, Dr Mahathir says, is based on fighting corruption and making sure Malaysia goes back to its glory days of being an “Asian tiger”.
They will be Malay-based, he emphasised, and will be fighting for the “Malays and the pribumis”.
He is of the opinion that the current existing parties are lacking in fighting for their interest:
The current parties that are Malay- and pribumi-based have pawned the dignity of their race and religion and have shifted focus to a group that is power-hungry.”
Mostly Familiar Faces
In May 2020, five political members, including Dr Mahathir himself, had their Bersatu membership terminated.
A month later, two more leaders, who are aligned with Dr Mahathir, were removed from their posts.
Dr Mahathir says that most of Bersatu’s grassroots members are with him.
He will be the chairman of the party and his son, Mr Mukhriz (who was expelled with him back in May 2020), will b the president of the party.
There will be four other MPs who remained independent after getting removed from Bersatu.
Experts: He’ll Likely Join PH Coalition
Political analyst Dr Oh Ei Sun predicts that Dr Mahathir’s party will likely join the PH coalition.
If not, his party will only make “minimal impact” on Malaysia politics.
After all, he’s the only powerhouse within the party who might win in elections.
It’s also likely that Dr Mahathir wouldn’t align with the ruling party.
As can be seen from the press conference, Dr Mahathir does not support Mr Muyiddin’s government.
That and he will not want to work with UMNO.
While he doesn’t seem like he will want to back Anwar into the big Prime Minister seat, he might not have a choice, Dr Oh pointed out.
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