Nur Jazlan said the Registrar of Societies had yet to receive any application from Mahathir.

“As an experienced politician, Dr Mahathir knows that the application must be sent to the Home Ministry where we will decide on whether the party is approved or not.

The evaluation would be based upon the founder’s background and records and the organisation’s financial resources. “We do not want any party to receive financial support from outsiders with ill intentions towards the nation,” he said.

Nur Jazlan said the Registrar would take some time to process the application and he hoped that Dr Mahathir would file the papers for registration as soon as possible.

“We at the ministry do not want the rakyat to be fooled by this party if it is created out of self interest instead for the benefit of Malaysians,” said Nur Jazlan, according to Star Online.

Dr Mahathir announced on Thursday that he intended to form a new political party which would seek a grand alliance of opposition parties to defeat the Barisan Nasional at the next general election.