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Renegade Bersatu Blackout group confirms Dr Mahathir starting yet another party

According to sources, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will proceed with announcing his latest political party this afternoon. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
According to sources, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will proceed with announcing his latest political party this afternoon. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 7 — Former Bersatu chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will proceed with announcing his latest political party this afternoon, according to sources within a renegade faction of Bersatu.

Earlier, unnamed sources told Sinar Harian that Dr Mahathir might do so depending on the outcome of his lawsuit to challenge his termination by Bersatu, which has since been dismissed.

“Yes, the event is expected to be at 4pm. Invitations to the media will be announced soon,” one source with the so-called Bersatu Blackout group told the news outlet.

They confirmed that one press conference will take place at Yayasan Al-Bukhary, followed by another at a nearby hotel.

Dr Mahathir is believed to be eyeing the name Parti Bersatu Rakyat Malaysia, in an apparent attempt to use the term “Bersatu” from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

However, another source said the name was not among those proposed by the Bersatu Blackout faction.

Bersatu Blackout is what loyalists of Dr Mahathir still within Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia call themselves.

“Maybe there were other leaders who proposed that name (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Malaysia) to Dr Mahathir, but whatever it is, let him decide,” the person said.

Earlier today, the High Court accepted the application of Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and four others to dismiss the lawsuit by Dr Mahathir and four others to challenge the revocation of their memberships.

Judge Rohani Ismail decided the plaintiffs have no legal standing to sue and cited Section 18C of the Societies Act 1966 that prohibited litigation of internal party affairs.

The party revoked Dr Mahathir’s membership along with that of six other federal lawmakers after they sat with the Opposition during the one-day parliamentary meeting in May.

Dr Mahathir formed Bersatu late in 2016 after he failed to convince Umno to remove Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the prime minister.

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