KUALA LUMPUR, March 21 — The Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition will not accept Parti Pejuang Tanahair as a member, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin said today.

The PN secretary-general said the coalition’s supreme council had convened yesterday to discuss the application, among other things.

"The supreme council decided to reject Pejuang’s application to enter Perikatan Nasional,” he said in a statement today.

Hamzah gave no reason for the rejection.

Pejuang was founded in 2020 by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and members of his faction who were sacked from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, another party he also established after leaving Umno over his disagreement with the Malay nationalists at the time.

During the 15th general election, all 125 candidates including Dr Mahathir who contested using Pejuang’s logo were defeated and lost their deposits.

In the aftermath, Dr Mahathir and several loyalists left Pejuang, allegedly over a disagreement with the party’s direction under its president, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathr, the youngest son of the former prime minister.

Despite rumours he would try to bring Pejuang into Pakatan Harapan, Mukhriz applied for his party to join PN instead, resulting in the rejection today.

Dr Mahathir has gone on to join yet another Malay-based party, Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra).