Mahathir says willing to forget ‘betrayal’ to cooperate with PN but Muhyiddin refused
Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad says his new coalition is willing to work with Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance to defeat Umno in Malaysia’s Nov 19 general election, but the latter has refused to meet him.
Tun Dr Mahathir said his Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition is willing to work with PN despite being “betrayed” by Muhyiddin in February 2020, when Muhyiddin led a group of lawmakers to defect and join up with Umno, causing the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) federal government.
“I thought it is okay, even though he had stabbed me in the back before; for the sake of our people, country and religion, we are willing to humble ourselves to cooperate with Muhyiddin, even after he had betrayed me. I am willing to forget about it.”
“But… he said he did not want to cooperate with anyone. How arrogant,” Dr Mahathir said, when speaking at the GTA rally in Alor Setar, the capital of Kedah state, on Friday night.
The Mahathir-led GTA is the fourth coalition in Malaysia’s crowded election space and is the smallest political bloc.
Dr Mahathir, 97, is pro tem chairman of GTA, whose four MPs are from his new party, Parti Pejuang Tanah Air.
The other members of GTA are even smaller political parties with no seats in Parliament.
The biggest electoral battles are expected to feature Umno-led Barisan Nasional, which has 42 MPs; PH (90 MPs), which is led by opposition chief Anwar Ibrahim; and PN (49 MPs).
GTA’s overtures to work with PH have also been rebuffed.
Dr Mahathir claimed that Muhyiddin, 75, is confident that PN can win the election without cooperating with any party and is still interested in becoming prime minister for the second time.
Dr Mahathir said GTA has never refused to cooperate with any party to defeat Umno.
“I know people like to see opposition parties unite so that we can defeat Umno, but when we asked them (PN) to cooperate, they refused. We are ready, even in GTA, we have four parties, we are united, but they don’t want to (cooperate),” he said.
Meanwhile, GTA pro tem deputy chairman Mukhriz Mahathir said the coalition planned to contest about 120 parliamentary seats, and the candidates will be announced on Nov 2.
He said the actual number of seats would be finalized later, adding that it would field candidates in no less than 10 parliamentary seats in Kedah, Dr Mahathir’s home state.