FORMER prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad is set to announce the formation of a new party this evening.

Sources told The Malaysian Insight the 95-year-old is to make the announcement at 4pm in a press conference at the Al Bukhary Foundation in Kuala Lumpur.

“There will be an announcement at 4pm and then after that they will be going to meet supporters,” a source told The Malaysian Insight

There will also be another gathering at a hotel in Bangsar shortly after the press conference where Dr Mahathir will address supporters.

Among those slated to join Dr Mahathir’s new platform are his son, Mukhriz, former education minister Maszlee Malik, former deputy finance minister Amiruddin Hamzah and former deputy foreign minister Marzuki Yahya.

This comes about following a high court decision this morning, which allowed an application by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to set aside a suit by Dr Mahathir and four other Bersatu MPs over their sacking from the party.

Judge Rohani Ismail dismissed the suit by Dr Mahathir against Muhyiddin and three defendants – Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainuddin, organising secretary Muhammad Suhaimi Yahya and) director-general of Registrar of Societies Masyati Abang Ibrahim.

Rohani said the plaintiffs do not have locus standi to bring forward the suit as their termination from the party was confirmed in a Bersatu supreme council meeting on June 4.

Dr Mahathir resigned as chairman on February 24, the same day he stepped down as prime minister, but the resignation was disputed within Bersatu as rival factions battled for legitimacy.

He won the post unopposed in party elections, which have been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bersatu was founded on September 6, 2016 by Dr Mahathir, Muhyiddin, Mukhriz and Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman to take on the Umno-led Barisan Nasional government in the 2018 general election. It then joined Pakatan Harapan, which went on to win the polls and wrest Putrajaya.

On February 24, Muhyiddin announced Bersatu’s departure from PH, causing the government’s collapse, and partnered with Umno, PAS and Gabungan Parti Sarawak to form the Perikatan Nasional administration. – August 7, 2020.