UMNO vice-president Khaled Nordin panned the newly formed coalition, Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA), asking if they are the face of Malaysia’s future.

“If we look at everyone there, is this the face of Malaysia’s future?

“If we want to talk about the future, there must also be young people and so on, but if you look there, all of them are seasoned politicians,” Khaled told reporters at the Umno headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Earlier today, Pejuang chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced the establishment of GTA to target Malay and Muslim voters who are fed up with Umno’s brand of politics.

The former prime minister said Pejuang is joined in the coalition by National Indian Muslim Alliance Party (Iman), Parti Bumiputera Perkasa Malaysia (Putra) and Parti Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se-Malaysia (Berjasa).

Khaled implied that the newly formed coalition led by Dr Mahathir is nothing but a political gimmick used to trick Malay folk during elections and urged them not to fall for it.

“This is not a new thing. When it comes to the general election (GE), it will be an effort made (by such a coalition) to win the hearts of the people and influence society.

“So, this is not shocking. Don’t tell me all this while they have not been standing up for the Malays.

“But just when you get close to GE and there is no other way (to convince voters), this is the only way.

“I hope that the Malay community in particular will not fall for this,” the former Johor menteri besar said.

Khaled added that any party that wants to contest in the election should offer to develop the country instead of victimising other political parties.

When asked if he sees the new coalition as a threat to Umno, Khaled simply said that “everyone can contest in an election”. – August 4, 2022.