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KUALA LUMPUR – Former Malaysian Education Minister Maszlee Malik has left a new opposition party that is being created by former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Mazslee was one of six MPs, including Dr. Mahathir himself, who were fired from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia after a fight with the party’s chairman, Muhyiddin Yassin.
Former Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman, 27, left the pro-Mahathir group of MPs to form his own youth party, Muda.
With the departure of 45-year-old Mr. Maszlee, the group with Dr. Mahathir is left with four MPs who are trying to form Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang).
Maszlee’s move also reflects the continuing turmoil in Malaysian politics with shifting alliances.
His future in Pejuang was raised in recent weeks after it emerged that he signed a statutory declaration (SD) supporting opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim as the next prime minister.
It was then that Datuk Seri Anwar claimed that he has a “formidable” number of deputies behind him to form the next government.
An aide to Dr. Mahathir said in a Facebook post on Monday that Pejuang and Maszlee parted ways after the former minister decided to support Anwar.
“Maszlee had signed the SD despite attending a Pejuang meeting where its members agreed not to support anyone associated with the kleptocracy and to wait and see who supported Anwar before the party decided a position,” said the aide, Adam Mukhriz Mohd Muhayeddin.
Speculation about Maszlee’s future in Pejuang grew louder when his name was not among those listed in a joint party statement when he commented on the 2021 Budget to be released in Parliament on Friday (November 6).
“All kinds of questions have arisen after Pejuang’s press release regarding the absence of my name. This press statement aims to (explain) the current state of my position in Pejuang,” he said in a statement on Monday ( November 2). .
“I … would like to announce my retirement as a member of the Pejuang committee. I want to fully focus my efforts on helping the rakyat who have been affected by Covid-19, especially those in Simpang Renggam, and Malaysia in general,” he added.
The former university professor is an MP for Simpang Renggam in Johor.
He was appointed Minister of Education in the Pakatan Harapan government of Dr. Mahathir who won the general elections in May 2018. Maszlee resigned 20 months after the post after a series of controversies as Minister of Education.
Maszlee said his decision to leave Pejuang, which has not yet been recorded, was also made because he believes the political elite “feel nauseated by the game of power and politics.”
“I believe that change efforts require not only power and position, but also passion and opportunity,” he said.
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