'New party needs strong grassroots before it can be labelled third force'
It's too early to tell whether Dr Mahathir Mohamad's new party will be kingmaker or a third force in the country's political landscape, say analysts.
Several political analysts opined that the Langkawi MP needed solid support from the grassroots before it could become kingmaker in the general election.
It's too early to tell whether Dr Mahathir Mohamad's new party will be kingmaker or a third force in the country's political landscape, say analysts.
Several political analysts opined that the Langkawi MP needed solid support from the grassroots before it could become kingmaker in the general election.
Azmi Hassan from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia said that for Mahathir's new party to become the third force, he needed, firstly, to convince members from his old party Bersatu to join the new party.
"To be known as the third force in the local political scenario, it depends on whether Mahathir can bring over Bersatu members to join the new party in an exodus.
"The lifeline of political parties in Malaysia is to rely on the support from their grassroots," he said.
However, he said he believed that Mahathir was facing an uphill battle to gather followers and he may not have enough time to do so before the 15th general election.
"That's why I think there will be no exodus of Bersatu members. The consequence will be that his new party will not be able to play an effective role in the political landscape," he said.
Mahathir had today announced the formation of an "independent" Malay party which was not tied to either Pakatan Harapan nor Perikatan Nasional. It has yet to have a name and is informally known as "Bebas".
Azmi added that another factor which would hinder Mahathir's effort in growing the party was that the party was similar to Bersatu and Umno, in that it catered to the Malays.
"There is actually nothing new with this party. It has the same vision as Bersatu and Umno in that they are for Malays."
'New party can become the third force'
Meanwhile, another political analyst Anbumani Balan said that it was possible for the new party to break into Bersatu's domain as some of the latter's members seemed to disagree with their leadership.
"He may have a solid reason to form the party. He needs a vehicle to return to politics. He still has a lot of followers," Anbumani said.
He predicted that Bersatu would break apart because of Mahathir's new party.
Mahathir, who is the Langkawi MP, had formed Bersatu together with Muhyiddin Yassin in 2016 to fight against then-premier Najib Abdul Razak.
Together with Pakatan Harapan, they won the 2018 general election and Mahathir was sworn in as prime minister.
However, in February this year, Muhyiddin pulled Bersatu out of Harapan to form the Perikatan Nasional government together with Umno, BN and PAS.
Subsequently, Mahathir and several other MPs aligned to him were sacked from Bersatu.
'New party needs a coalition'
Lee Kuok Tiung from Universiti Malaysia Sabah said that Mahathir's new party wouldn't last long if it operated on its own.
"In Sabah and Sarawak, there are many parties. But in the peninsula, there are only two coalitions, namely Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.
"If the new party wants to fulfil its agenda, it has to join a coalition," Lee said.
The formation of the new party showed that Mahathir had his agenda, he added.
"It seems that Mahathir has something to offer in politics.
"He has an agenda. He is not ready to give up on politics.
"But it's difficult (for the party) to last without a strong coalition," observed Lee.
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