Home minister finds Dr M’s new party proposal ‘interesting’
Hamzah Zainudin says the former prime minister had previously remarked the Malays had too many parties.
KOTA KINABALU: Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin says there is no issue with Dr Mahathir Mohamad wanting to form a new party although he finds the move by his former party chairman “interesting”.
Hamzah, who is the PPBM secretary-general, said he found it interesting that Mahathir intended to set up a new party despite his previous remarks on Malays having too many parties.
“He (Mahathir) had said before that the problem with Malays is when you want to become president but you can’t win, then it will lead to the formation of new parties. Those are his words, not mine,” he told reporters here today after a Rela event.
He noted that Mahathir had said ‘this is the problem with Malays, there are already six or seven parties’.
“With that kind of thinking, he still wants to form a new party (but) it’s up to him. Everyone has got the right to form a new party.”
Following his political fallout with PPBM, Mahathir had announced yesterday he will set up a new independent Malay political party, although he has yet to decide on a name for it.
He had previously said he might join an existing party or form a new one.
He said the former PPBM founders needed to create a new party to fight corruption as the other Malay parties had strayed from their original paths.
Asked if there would be any problem with the registrar of societies, Hamzah said there was no issue as everyone had a right to form a party.
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“We have some 32 million (people in Malaysia) and if you divide, there can be one million parties, with one party having 30 members … (there is) no issue,” he added in jest.