KOTA KINABALU, May 4 — Parti Pejuang Tanahair (Pejuang) is open to working with political parties in Sabah including the ones that are in government especially if it can bring added value to their support.

Its president, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir, disclosed that there have been unofficial discussions with some ‘small’ political parties in Sabah about the cooperation but they have yet to meet with the ‘big’ parties.

"We know the leaders of the active political parties in Sabah on a personal level but there is no official agreement to work together yet,” he said at the Pejuang Sabah’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house today.

Mukhriz said the results of the last state and general elections did not deter Pejuang in continuing its political journey with the party as they have the hope to be able to contribute to the wellbeing of the rakyat and the state.

"We took some time to rebuild our strength and we learnt a lesson from the experience. Based on our experience we need to ‘ukur baju di badan sendiri’ and not to interfere with other parties as well as focus on our own strengths.

"If in the past we tried to contest in many constituencies, this time round we will focus on areas where we have the support and see what added value we can bring to the area. That way we can maximize on our limited resources as we do not need to move as a huge party,” he said.

To the question if there are any particular parties in Sabah Pejuang is interested to work with, Mukhriz replied, "We have a close relationship with many of the top leadership of the parties that are active in Sabah, most particularly GRS as they are old friends who have been through many challenges together so it is quite natural for us to try and talk to them again.

"Pejuang has no other intention other than to contribute towards to the wellbeing of Sabahans and Malaysians in general. There is no pollical manoeuvring or the desire to wrestle away power as all that is not important.

"We feel that in the end, the rakyat can evaluate which party remains steadfast and has principles thus having the confidence in that respective political party such as Pejuang,” he said.

When asked whether their potential collaboration with GRS would mean the end of Pejuang’s cooperation with Perikatan Nasional (PN), Mukhriz explained that the politics in Sabah is very dynamic.

"Sabah from a political perspective is rather autonomous. I cannot bring Peninsular (style) politics here because the situation is very different. In Peninsular Malaysia we are very open to PN and will participate in the campaign for PN in the Kuala Kubu by-election.

"In Sabah it’s a different ball game all together, so the formula is different,” he stressed.

Mukhriz also disclosed that Pejuang Sabah has identified some seats it may contest in the coming state election but stressed that the party is willing to make way as the ultimate goal is the welfare of the rakyat.

"Our brand of politics is not purely so that we must have our candidates contesting in certain constituencies. That is not the end goal which is how can we contribute towards helping the people.

"It could be contesting in the elections or it could be some other way. We don’t get into politics demanding that we must contest in elections. That is not our approach. With that background, people are more willing to accept us because they know that we are not coming there to make all kinds of demands.

"Hopefully that way other political parties don’t look at us as a threat and see us as a party that can provide some added value towards the well-being of the people,” he said.

On Pejuang’s membership, Mukhriz stressed that it is all about quality, not quantity.

"We learnt from experience that quality is important, not quantity. People may not be 100 per cent with you in terms of principles and we only find out after elections so I am quite happy with the hardcore members who have remained loyal to Pejuang,” he said. — The Borneo Post