Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang), which has positioned itself as a third force, has made an open offer to support any political coalition to form the next federal government after the general election.
However, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad stated that the offer comes with conditions.
"It is not possible for Pejuang to become the government. However, the support of Pejuang will determine which coalition will become the government.
"The support of Pejuang (will be given) only if its conditions are accepted," said the party's pro-tem chairperson in a blog post today.
Mahathir said that Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin indicated that the next general election will be held after the state of emergency ends and it appeared that Perikatan Nasional (PN) is confident it will win.
"He (Muhyiddin) believes that PN will win as it has made preparations. Flags and banners have been ordered and seat negotiations between Bersatu, PAS and Umno have been concluded.
"For Muhyiddin, only one issue remains unresolved. He wishes that no opposition party will contest in the polls so that PN will win uncontested," Mahathir added.
For this reason, the Langkawi MP said Pejuang and the Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda) failed in their attempts to have their parties registered with the Registrar of Societies.
The nonagenarian foresees that Pejuang candidates may be forced to contest as independents without their own party flag and this will cause confusion among voters.
Another option, he said, was for Pejuang to contest under PKR's ticket but this may be rejected by the Pakatan Harapan ally.
"Pejuang is not tied to any party, what we hope is to become the third force.
"Bersatu, which is now a multiracial party, is unlikely to win much. As such, PN parties, BN and Muafakat Nasional will pick one among them to become their prime minister.
"Umno and PAS had given the prime minister's post to Muhyiddin previously in order to become a majority coalition if Bersatu quits Harapan to join Muafakat," Mahathir said.
"Only (former PKR deputy president) Azmin Ali and his faction from PKR have the numbers. Azmin was indirectly given the highest position in the cabinet but not deputy prime minister," he added.
Mahathir viewed that there would probably be no changes to politics in the country even after the polls.
"The political situation after the 15th general election is unlikely to differ from now but it is not possible for Muhyiddin to become prime minister again," he said.
Currently, Muhyiddin's Bersatu holds 31 parliamentary seats while PAS and GPS control 18 seats respectively. BN has 42 seats.
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR controls 38 seats, while DAP holds 42 seats and Amanah has 11. In Sabah, former chief minister Shafie Apdal’s Warisan has eight seats while Upko has one.
Mahathir's Pejuang only has four MPs. Apart from him, the others are Jerlun MP Mukhriz Mahathir, Kubang Pasu MP Amiruddin Hamzah and Sri Gading MP Shahruddin Salleh. - Mkini
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