Pejuang calls it quits with GTA, cites need to strengthen party

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KUALA LUMPUR – Pejuang today announced its withdrawal from the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition to focus on strengthening the party.

Its president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said the decision was made after taking into account the views of delegates in the second general assembly of Pejuang today following the party’s poor performance in the last 15th general election (GE15).

“Actually I have informed the GTA supreme council meeting on December 6 last year that there was a sentiment among Pejuang members for the party to withdraw from GTA.

“However, I leave a little caveat that I want to wait for the official decision from the party’s general assembly that concluded today,” he told a press conference here today.

In GE15, Pejuang, established by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, failed to win any contested parliamentary seats.

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Pejuang irrelevant now in saturated Malay electoral market, says analyst

PETALING JAYA: Pejuang and the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition have become irrelevant in Malaysian politics as the Malay electoral market has become saturated, says political analyst Wong Chin Huat.

Wong, of Sunway University, said Pejuang will be dwarfed by the major Malay parties Umno, PAS and Bersatu leading the scene, as shown in the recent general election

Pejuang is too small a party to become relevant while GTA without Pejuang is merely an NGO, Wong said in response to Pejuang’s announcement yesterday that it has withdrawn from GTA to focus on strengthening itself.

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Quitting GTA wasn’t discussed by top leaders, says Pejuang No 2

PETALING JAYA: Pejuang’s move to quit the Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) coalition was not discussed by the party’s top leadership and was a rushed decision, says the party’s deputy president, Marzuki Yahya.

According to Utusan Malaysia, Marzuki said party president Mukhriz Mahathir only considered the views of Pejuang delegates when they convened for its general assembly on Saturday, in making the call.

He said Mukhriz’s actions reflected weak leadership on his part, adding that the party’s direction needed to be clearer to avoid a repeat of its poor electoral outing in the Nov 19 general election (GE15).

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