KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) has yet to receive any official letter from Perikatan Nasional (PN) about its application to join the coalition despite news reports that it had been rejected.
Pejuang supreme council member Mohd Shaid Rosli said his party wants to contest in the upcoming six state elections and will likely reapply to join the Opposition coalition, Utusan Malaysia reported today.
“It is very likely that we will make the application again to PN because the other day,it was only rumoured through the media, but we did not receive a letter from PN saying our request was rejected.
“So, we want to know if there is a letter, don't push it through the media.
“I'm not sure if we will appeal but I as a member of the supreme council gave a view in the meeting for the president to rethink, and we ask for a reapplication and so on,” he was quoted as saying.
Shaid said Pejuang sees PN as representative of the Malays and will support it to ensure the community’s unity.
“We don't want the Malays to split, we know that Pejuang’s strength is not very strong and we don't see people accept Pejuang even though the leaders are those who are not involved in corruption cases, courts, abuse of power and so on,” he was quoted as saying.
It is unclear if Shaid elaborated on the corruption cases as it was not mentioned in the Malay daily.
Shaid, the incumbent Jeram assemblyman, was also reported saying he would not defend his Selangor seat in the election if that would help PN win.
“If I contest Jeram and that causes division among the Malays, then I would rather not contest and support the Malay party that is PN,” he was quoted as saying.
Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir said on March 1 that he had applied for his party to be a PN component.
But PN secretary-general Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin reportedly rejected Pejuang’s bid on March 20 after the coalition’s supreme council meeting with its three current components: Bersatu, PAS, and Gerakan.
