LANGKAWI: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today brushed off claims that his party was forming a new alliance with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) and Pas.
The Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) chairman said at the moment, the party preferred working alone because of differences in fundamental struggles with other political parties.
"Pejuang's struggles are not about personal financial gains… ours is for the Malays, we want them to be able to stand on their own, not depend on others to survive.
"The other parties joined politics because they want to became candidates (in general elections), to become ministers and make money (for themselves)," he told reporters after handing over Ramadan goodies to underprivileged families at Masjid Nur Al Naim in Makam Mahsuri here.
However, the Langkawi member of Parliament did not discount the possibility that Pejuang would forge an alliance with any political party that shared its fundamental struggles in future.
"If they (the other parties) are honest and do not practice money politics, we might consider working together," he said.
The former premier stressed that Pejuang would not work with Umno because of the party's alleged involvement in money politics.
He claimed that Umno had practiced vote buying in the Johor state election earlier this month.
"In Johor (state election), we Pejuang did not have money but the other parties were giving out cash handouts to buy votes.
"We contacted the voters to plead for support but they asked us how much we can pay them because Umno was offering them RM200 to vote for them.
"So, the voters did not vote for Pejuang because we did not offer them money, but how long will that RM200 last?" he claimed.
Dr Mahathir said that was why Pejuang was focusing on improving the livelihoods of Malays so they could be independent without depending on cash handouts.
In the Johor state election held on March 13, Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN) won two-thirds majority in the state legislative assembly after winning 40 out of 56 seats.
Following BN's thumping victory in the state election there were calls for the fragmented Opposition parties to unite ahead of the next general election.
On Mar 18, Dr Mahathir did not discount the possibility of political parties forming an alliance to challenge BN in the 15th General Election.
He was reported as saying that the opposition parties were defeated because they were not united, despite BN only commanded 35 per cent of the votes in Johor state election.
Last Wednesday, a political Facebook page uploaded a digital poster suggesting that Dr Mahathir was leading a new political alliance - Gerakan Pejuang Nasional comprising Pejuang, Bersatu and Pas.