Kuala Lumpur: There is “no way” Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) will work with Umno, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The GTA chairman and former Prime Minister said this in response to questions on whether his movement would welcome Umno and Barisan Nasional in the absence of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Dr Mahathir said that while GTA is unwilling to work with Umno as a party, there are good and bad individuals in Umno.
On whether Umno could change its image with the incarceration of Najib, Dr Mahathir said the party’s image is already marred by corruption and money politics.
“When we ask for support, the question they ask is how much are you going to give? They ask for money,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter (what happens to the country) as long as they get the money. That is Umno now, this is not the old Umno that I left,” he said.
On support from Sabah and Sarawak, Dr Mahathir said GTA has its support from both states, in fact there are more supporters there than in the peninsula.
“So the support from Sabah and Sarawak for the four parties here is really strong, they are part of our party,” he said, adding that Warisan is not part of the coalition.
GTA is prepared to contest in the 15th general election (GE15) if the general election is held soon or otherwise, said Dr Mahathir.
Dr Mahathir who is Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) chairman said GTA will ensure victory with sufficient seats to enable the coalition form the government.
“We are confident whether (GE15 is held) early or late, we are ready to contest. We want to stand in in sufficient areas to form the government.
“Even If we do not win more than 50 per cent, we would be the largest victorious party, then we would try to form alliance with other parties so that we would attain more than 50 per cent to be the government,” he told a media conference after opening the 2022 National Assembly organised by Berjasa here.
On Aug 4, Dr Mahathir announced the setting up of GTA, a coalition to empower the Malays especially in the field of economy and would field candidates in 120 Parliamentary constituencies in Peninsular Malaysia especially in Malay majority seats.
For a start, GTA has four parties namely Pejuang, Berjasa, Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) and Parti Perikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman).
Asked whether it is suitable to hold GE15 this year, the former Prime Minister is of the view that the general election would not be held this year as the government is not ready.
“I expect not before the budget but I think they cannot have it too early because they are also not prepared. So the government party is trying to find a slot where they will be well accepted by the people,” he said.
Earlier, in his speech, Dr Mahathir said the GTA will field one candidate to contest in each constituency.
“We are not fighting among ourselves. All of us, whether we are from parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) or individuals, we will all support the GTA candidate. If we have four parties, we will fight among ourselves, each supporting their own party. so can’t win,” he said.
