KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) will not be giving up its "fight” in Malaysia’s political arena, despite its drubbing in the Johor state election, chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The former prime minister said that Pejuang had identified several problems that had led to its loss in the state polls, and pledged that his party would study them and find ways to improve as this was its "responsibility”.

"Pejuang will continue to stress and fight for public needs issues,” he said during a press conference that was livestreamed on Facebook.

"We discovered to our unease that the future — especially that of the Malay people, and generally of the country — may not be safe in relation to corruption.

"But we focused too much on corruption to the point that we failed to emphasise bread-and-butter issues such as job losses, food insecurity, and the loss of homes due to the lack of money.”

Dr Mahathir then stated that his party was of the opinion that the winners of the Johor, Melaka and Sarawak state elections were the wrong choice to govern, as they were involved in corrupt practices that had ruined the country.

To note, Barisan Nasional (BN) won the elections in Johor and Melaka, while its ally Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) won in Sarawak.

"If they are supported because of corruption, there is a chance that the country’s recovery will be in jeopardy,” he said.

"That is, our country will be owned and governed by corrupt people and they will use the power of the government to sustain themselves.”

Dr Mahathir also urged the Opposition to unite, stressing that he felt it had lost not from a lack of support, but rather because votes were split among the various Opposition parties.

He said, however, that no decision has been made on whether Pejuang will partner with other parties for the next general election.

Pejuang contested 42 of the 56 state seats up for grabs in Johor, but lost all 42 deposits it paid to contest — which was a consequence of not winning at least one-eighth (or 12.5 per cent) of the votes for each seat.