A new party does not an election victory make, says Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

"It takes more than forming parties and coalitions to win elections," he said in a blog posting earlier tonight.

Referring to the announcement that the Save Malaysia movement will soon be formalised as a political entity, he called it former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's "last throw of the dice".

"We shall see what this new party that is going to be formed and the new coalition has to offer Malaysia," he added.

Salleh also said that people might not warm up to the new coalition as they would prefer what was familiar.

"Sometimes voters prefer the tried and tested rather than the unknown and uncharted," he said.

Salleh recalled that many new parties and new coalitions have been formed over the last 65 years since 1951.
Some have survived till today, while many more have disappeared along the way, he said.

"A party or even a coalition is merely a vehicle or a means to an end. What is more important is what they hope to achieve,” he added.

Salleh said that the list of parties and coalitions that have come and gone was very long, adding that most have materialised only to disappear without actually affecting anything.