Treachery and infighting within Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) led to the recent resignation of Mahathir Mohamed as party chairperson.

Mahathir gave no reason for his shock resignation. However, informed sources said his resignation wasn’t a voluntary one.

Treachery from very close quarters brought down Mahathir.

Pejuang went into the last general election with few expectations of electoral success.

Mahathir founded Pejuang back in August 2020 after withdrawing from the “Sheraton move” engineered by Bersatu’s Muhyiddin Yassin and Azmin Ali who betrayed PKR.

Mahathir also stitched up a loose coalition of academics, professionals and NGOs called Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA).

Pejuang and GTA fielded 369 candidates for state and federal seats in the recent general election, where all candidates lost their deposits.

Mahathir in his own seat of Langkawi could only garner 4,566 votes, not enough to even return his deposit in a humiliating defeat.

The election results should have been enough for Pejuang to close shop.

By itself, Pejuang doesn’t have enough direct support to influence the national political environment.

If Pejuang is to have any political future it must cooperate with one of the main coalitions.

Reliable sources tell a tale of deceit between the chairperson and president of Pejuang, Mukhriz Mahathir who had long been talking to Anwar Ibrahim.

If Mukhriz held his federal seat of Jerlun, it is believed there might have been an opportunity for him to participate in the cabinet or hold another government post. However, this evaporated when he lost his seat.

Political treachery and infighting is still prevalent in Malaysian politics. This time it has split Mahathir’s own family!

Analysts are predicting Pejuang to lose its way after Mahathir’s resignation. However, the reality is that Pejuang was irrelevant before the election. This is not true for some small pockets within the state of Kedah.

Mukhriz still has some value for Anwar in the coming state election in Kedah. Pejuang still holds two seats in the assembly, Mukhriz in Jitra and Amiruddin Hamzah in Anak Bukit.

With the little support Pejuang has in Kedah, joining Pakatan Harapan would bolster its chances of survival.

This is a strategic chip for PH, which together with Pejuang may be able to prevent Perikatan Nasional from holding the state.

A possible reward for Mukhriz could be a return to the chief minister position.

Mukhriz was one of the early people to have publicly congratulated Anwar on becoming prime minister.

What makes the plot thicken is that Pejuang Youth Chief Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin and Mukhriz’s political secretary Anas have been regularly talking to Anwar since the Melaka state election.

What is not known is whether Mukhriz was aware of this. Mahathir was certainly not aware.

Mahathir drove Pejuang alone during the last general election. This proved disastrous.

Mukhriz feared disagreeing with his father. This is why Mukhriz is often seen to appear “half-hearted”, as he was essentially subservient to his father in what was essential his party.

However, Mahathir is adamant of creating enough instability to make Anwar’s government fall.

He is in earnest discussions with Muhyiddin on this issue. Mahathir is still chairperson of GTA, a vehicle he can use to destabilize the government.

This is an issue of great contention among the leadership of Pejuang.

Many members of Pejuang feel that Mukhriz has betrayed his father’s cause and is thus a traitor to the party.

This led to the Federal Territories chief Khairuddin Abu Hasan and Pejuang Youth Chief Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin resigning their positions.

Sources indicate more are planning to follow.

There is a feeling Mukhriz has betrayed his father. Many within Pejuang are sympathetic towards Mahathir.

This story indicates that political treachery and infighting is still prevalent in Malaysian politics.

This time it has split Mahathir’s own family!

(Murray Hunter has been involved in Asia-Pacific business for the last 40 years as an entrepreneur, consultant, academic and researcher. He was an associate professor at Universiti Malaysia Perlis.)