NEW political party Pejuang is backing Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal as its candidate for prime minister in the next general election, said pro tem deputy president Marzuki Yahya.

However, the former deputy foreign affairs minister said Pejuang has not held any detailed discussion on its choice, aside from agreeing to throw its weight behind the Sabah chief minister.

Pejuang backing Shafie means there is still no unanimous agreement among the opposition parties on a preferred candidate for the top job, with PKR standing by president Anwar Ibrahim.

“We are still with Shafie, but we have not discussed this seriously. Even DAP and Lim Guan Eng promised Shafie would be the PM.

“We still keep with that and we are looking forward to that, but there have been no discussions yet,” Marzuki told The Malaysian Insight.

Sabah is heading to the polls next month after Shafie thwarted a move by Musa Aman to seize power by calling for snap elections after the former chief minister said he had the backing of 32 assemblymen.

Pejuang will not be contesting the election but will be campaigning on behalf of Warisan.

“We are independent but we are together with Warisan. We are going to campaign and support its candidates in Sabah,” Marzuki said.

Pejuang was formed after a crisis in Bersatu earlier this year, after the party split into two rival camps: one led by current president and Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and the other by former chairman Dr Mahathir.

The two founders split over Muhyiddin’s decision to take the party out of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in late February, which then led to the collapse of the government.

Muhyiddin then teamed up with rivals Umno and PAS, to form a new government.

Dr Mahathir and his supporters opposed the move and were expelled from the party for continuing to support PH, forming Pejuang as a result.

Reportedly, the party is not aligning to either government or the opposition.

“We choose to remain independent. We will support PH and also support Perikatan Nasional if it is necessary for issues that benefit the nation,” Marzuki said. – August 28, 2020.