Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad yesterday revealed the name of his newly-formed political party and its chosen candidate for the upcoming by-election in a district in Perak state.
The party is named Warriors of Our Homeland, or Pejuang Tanah Air aka Pejuang. Lawyer Amir Khusyairi Mohd Tanusi, 38, has been chosen to contest on behalf of the party for the now-vacant Slim constituency seat following the death of United Malays National Organisation politician Mohd Khusairi Abdul Talib on July 15.
“This party was formed to fight the corruption that has destroyed our people. Choose Pejuang, if you want to redeem your dignity and defend your rights,” Mahathir, 95, who served two terms as Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020, said during the Slim by-election press conference.
Amir was also announced as a new member of the Pejuang party last night. He had left the Malaysian United Indigenous Party that sacked its founder Mahathir and four others in May.
Former youth and sports minister Syed Saddiq was also revealed as the party’s member yesterday.
Last week, Mahathir said the new political party would be chaired by his son Mukhriz Mahathir.
He also said that the political party “will not be tied to other political coalitions, that is Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.”
Other party members include former education minister Maszlee Malik and former deputy finance minister Amiruddin Hamzah.
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