KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 6 — Malay nationalist political coalition Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) submitted its registration papers to the Registrar of Societies (RoS) today, as it mulls fielding candidates for the next general election (GE15).

According to news portal Free Malaysia Today (FMT), the group expects its application to be approved within the next 30 days without any interference from the government.

Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) secretary-general Datuk Marzuki Yahya reportedly said that the party’s chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will be GTA chairman, while four other party presidents will serve as deputy chairmen.

GTA comprises Pejuang, Parti Pikatan India Muslim Nasional (Iman), Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa) and Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra).

The coalition is open to participation from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), individuals, academics and professional groups from the Malay community.

On August 4, Dr Mahathir announced the establishment of GTA, a coalition which he said was aimed at strengthening the Malays, especially in the economic field.

Previously, it was reported that the coalition hopes to contest 120 parliamentary seats, especially in Malay-majority areas, in the GE15.

Commenting on forming alliances, Marzuki said that the coalition was open to talks but none were happening at the present.

Meanwhile, Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir reportedly defended the coalition’s stance to form a clean government to tackle the issues caused by corrupt Malay politicians, while also upholding non-Malay rights.

"If you consider fighting for our race, for Malays, as unprincipled, I don’t know what to say.

"For us, Malays will sacrifice anything for this country, to protect all races including non-Malays,” he was quoted as saying.