GTA wants to work with PN and Harapan, eyes a minimum 100 seats

Dr Mahathir Mohamad's Malay-rights coalition Gerakan Tanah Air appears keen to forge cooperation with both Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan.

Mahathir said negotiations with Perikatan Nasional are already ongoing, while he is still waiting on a response from Harapan and its chief Anwar Ibrahim.

Speaking at a press conference in Putrajaya, Mahathir said the PN talks are experiencing some minor issues and that no agreements have been made as of yet.

"I have to explain here that negotiations with PN are still ongoing, and there are some small problems we have yet to resolve," he said

“Sorry, cannot reveal,” he cheekily said when asked what those issues were.

The former premier said that he had met with PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin thus far.

He said that PN was given two more days to decide on possible cooperation as GTA wanted to finalise their candidate list by Nov 2.

However, Hamzah was quoted yesterday saying that PN has not held any official discussions with GTA, adding that party leadership had yet to decide whether discussions could be held officially.

Asked about cooperation with Harapan, Mahathir said he had made it obvious that he wants to engage them but has not received a response.

Mahathir admitted that he had not made the first move as he was waiting for a “positive response” from Harapan’s end on whether they would be open to discussion.

“I have already made it obvious that I am open to meeting everybody except Umno. Umno or BN I will not meet, but others, I am prepared to meet but their response must be positive of course.

“They (Harapan) can do it (respond) in many ways, they could say it publicly, write a letter, make a special statement…anything. It is very easy to do,” he said.

Both PN and Harapan are set to clash at the polls in a bid to oust BN.

However, Mahathir has stressed that opposition cooperation is needed in order to eject BN from Putrajaya again.

His plan to engage both PN and Harapan is reminiscent of a strategy employed by his former rival Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah during the 1990 elections.

In the year, Razaleigh's Semangat 46 party had the Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah coalition with PAS and other Malay-based parties, and a separate Gagasan Rakyat coalition with DAP and other multiracial parties.

Meanwhile, Mahathir said that for now, GTA aims to contest in more than 100 seats - which may grow to over 120 if it decides to contest in Sabah and Sarawak.

However, for now, the coalition has announced candidates for just eight seats - which Mahathir hoped they get to keep if they form electoral pacts with PN or Harapan.

Mahathir said that contesting GTA candidates will use the Pejuang logo in GE15 as the coalition was still unregistered.

The seats and candidates are:

• Langkawi - Mahathir

• Jerlun - Mukhriz Mahathir

• Kubang Pasu - Amiruddin Hamzah

• Sepang - Che Asmah Ibrahim

• Tapah - Mior Nor Haidir Suhaimi

• Hulu Selangor - Harumaini Omar

• Kuala Selangor - Mohd Shaid Rosli

• Titiwangsa - Khairuddin Abu Hassan

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