As the national political engine begins to rev once more, many observers have remain fixated at the big heavyweights and their moves to secure victory in the upcoming elections.
Yet in the shadows of the giants, there remains one party that continues to shout and rave in an attempt to regain attention.
PEJUANG.
Tun Dr. Mahathir’s “new-new” party has desperately attempted to enter the headlines once again – with it boasting that it will enter the Johor elections in 42 seats, an eyebrow raising amount for such a small party, and lost its deposits in all 42 seats.
Most recently, it announced that it intends to contest in Sabah in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15), its president Mukhriz Mahathir said.
However, the party has yet to determine the number of seats or which constituencies to contest in the state.
For the ever-dwindling supporters of Tun Mahathir, this is a welcome development, but one question remains:
What exactly is this new party fighting for?
Will it be for the rakyat? Will it be for the Malays? Or will it be for the political legacy of him and his family?
As the component parties of Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan work towards setting aside their own aspirations and differences, this may be the final attempt for the former PM to cement his standing in Malaysia’s history before he dies.
In a sajak poem posted on his blog, Tun Dr Mahathir reiterated that to fight against corruption and to restore the Malay dignity, people should choose PEJUANG.
The irony shines brighter than ever given the multiple mismanagement that happened during the reign of the 4th and 7th Prime Minister - where Malaysians saw assets and companies being stripped for the benefit of the few such as Tun Daim Zainuddin and his boys, culminating in an era of crony capitalism, with its ripple effects still being felt today.
It is unfortunate that social media did not exist back then to form the proper check and balance against the government of the day, which controlled nearly all of the media outlets accessible to the public, but luckily for us and the younger Malaysians, we finally know the true nature of Tun Dr Mahathir.
Tun Dr Mahathir’s return to the political arena was exhilarating to many without a doubt, which led to Pakatan Harapan winning Putrajaya for the first time. However, the Malaysia Baru days saw many shades of the same old colour through an increase in privatisation of government assets and even vanity projects such as a third national car.
Not only that, but we also witnessed Tun Dr Mahathir’s inability to work with many of his component party members, which led to the demise of the Pakatan Harapan government. We all know for sure now that it has been a game of ego for the old man and will continue to be one if we let things slide back to where it were.
Let us hope that things are different this time around.
Despite the legacy he has built for himself over the course of more than 22 years and 22 months, there were not much fanfare this time around. While many Bersatu chapters dismantled themselves to align with the new party - these chapters were barebone skeleton crews anyways.
Not only that, but popular figures also aligned with Tun Dr Mahathir such as Syed Saddiq has yet to come out and announce their full support (considering that the former Youth Minister now runs his own party). Not a popular thing to do of course, when the new party will be led by Tun Dr Mahathir and his son, Mukhriz, while maintaining its distance with the Opposition’s largest block Pakatan Harapan.
All talks of restoring the Malay dignity aside, this new party fights for nothing but the Mahathir legacy, and the sooner the rakyat realises that, the better.
Yet in the shadows of the giants, there remains one party that continues to shout and rave in an attempt to regain attention.
Tun Dr. Mahathir’s “new-new” party has desperately attempted to enter the headlines once again – with it boasting that it will enter the Johor elections in 42 seats, an eyebrow raising amount for such a small party, and lost its deposits in all 42 seats.
Most recently, it announced that it intends to contest in Sabah in the upcoming 15th general election (GE15), its president Mukhriz Mahathir said.
However, the party has yet to determine the number of seats or which constituencies to contest in the state.
For the ever-dwindling supporters of Tun Mahathir, this is a welcome development, but one question remains:
What exactly is this new party fighting for?
Will it be for the rakyat? Will it be for the Malays? Or will it be for the political legacy of him and his family?
As the component parties of Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan work towards setting aside their own aspirations and differences, this may be the final attempt for the former PM to cement his standing in Malaysia’s history before he dies.
In a sajak poem posted on his blog, Tun Dr Mahathir reiterated that to fight against corruption and to restore the Malay dignity, people should choose PEJUANG.
The irony shines brighter than ever given the multiple mismanagement that happened during the reign of the 4th and 7th Prime Minister - where Malaysians saw assets and companies being stripped for the benefit of the few such as Tun Daim Zainuddin and his boys, culminating in an era of crony capitalism, with its ripple effects still being felt today.
It is unfortunate that social media did not exist back then to form the proper check and balance against the government of the day, which controlled nearly all of the media outlets accessible to the public, but luckily for us and the younger Malaysians, we finally know the true nature of Tun Dr Mahathir.
Tun Dr Mahathir’s return to the political arena was exhilarating to many without a doubt, which led to Pakatan Harapan winning Putrajaya for the first time. However, the Malaysia Baru days saw many shades of the same old colour through an increase in privatisation of government assets and even vanity projects such as a third national car.
Let us hope that things are different this time around.
Despite the legacy he has built for himself over the course of more than 22 years and 22 months, there were not much fanfare this time around. While many Bersatu chapters dismantled themselves to align with the new party - these chapters were barebone skeleton crews anyways.
Not only that, but popular figures also aligned with Tun Dr Mahathir such as Syed Saddiq has yet to come out and announce their full support (considering that the former Youth Minister now runs his own party). Not a popular thing to do of course, when the new party will be led by Tun Dr Mahathir and his son, Mukhriz, while maintaining its distance with the Opposition’s largest block Pakatan Harapan.
All talks of restoring the Malay dignity aside, this new party fights for nothing but the Mahathir legacy, and the sooner the rakyat realises that, the better.
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