PKR central leadership council member Wong Chen said Mahathir’s overtures would only benefit Pejuang and its coalition partners in Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) rather than bring any added value to PH, Berita Harian reported.

“It’s clear that Pejuang has an issue (garnering support) in rural areas.

“For example, in the Johor state election, Pejuang did not even get 5% of the votes,” he was reported as saying.

Last night, PH chairman Anwar Ibrahim dismissed Mahathir’s offer to cooperate, ending any possibility of PH working with Pejuang in the upcoming general election (GE15).

Anwar said he would rather meet the electorate who are facing trying times rather than take part in any political chess games.

His remarks were in line with an earlier PH announcement ruling out talks with Mahathir.

Wong said PKR supported Anwar’s decision, adding that many party members were against the idea of joining forces with Mahathir.

“Our goals are different as his party (Pejuang) is race-based while ours is multiracial,” he said, according to Berita Harian.

Mahathir, who is also GTA chairman, had recently said he was prepared to meet Anwar for talks on electoral cooperation for GE15.

The former prime minister had urged opposition leaders to set aside their egos for a common cause against Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) just like in 2018 when he led PH to oust BN from power.