PUTRAJAYA: Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad says Perikatan Nasional (PN) is more concerned about winning power than fighting for the Malay community.
“PN isn’t fighting for the (Malay) race and country. Their fight is to become prime minister,” said Mahathir at GTA’s Program Semangat Merdeka at the Perdana Leadership Foundation.
He was responding to a question on whether the two coalitions are aligned in light of PN chairman Muhyiddin Yassin stating on Saturday that the door is open for cooperation with GTA ahead of the coming general election.
While Mahathir said he was open to discussions about working with PN, he doubted that an alliance was on the cards as he said PN was not united.
“We can discuss, but the decision is a different story. PN needs to get their act together. No decision has been made,” he said.
He then described Muhyiddin as a “troublemaker” who could not be depended on, calling him a “key player” in bringing down the Pakatan Harapan government “to become prime minister”.
In an aside, the Langkawi MP said GTA’s registration would be submitted to the Registrar of Societies on Sept 6 and that the coalition’s logo had yet to be finalised.
Mahathir had unveiled GTA on Aug 4. The grouping comprises Mahathir’s Pejuang party as well as Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa), Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) and the National Indian Muslim Alliance Party (Iman).
He said the movement, which also includes Malay NGOs, academics and professionals, was set up to change the government and challenge Umno at the general election.
PN consists of Bersatu, PAS, Gerakan, STAR and SAPP. Except for Bersatu and PAS, the other three parties represent non-Muslim and non-Malay communities.
