James Chin of the University of Tasmania’s Asia Institute said no other mainstream Malay parties such as Bersatu, PAS or Umno would accept Mahathir.
“Mahathir is desperate and he also wants to stay relevant. He is not going to retire, politics is in his blood,” Chin told FMT.
“The other reason Mahathir joined Putra is due to its extreme Malay right-wing views which conform with his own views.”
On Wednesday, Mahathir joined Putra after quitting Pejuang last month following his former party’s decision to withdraw from the Gerakan Tanah Air coalition.
Explaining his decision to join the Ibrahim Ali-led party, the former prime minister claimed that the Malays were no longer dominating the economy, and that “others” had taken over.
He claimed that the Malays were also taking a back seat in politics.
Yesterday, Pejuang said it had made an application to join Perikatan Nasional.
Chin said Mahathir’s decision to join Putra could be a strategic move to make a comeback in the upcoming state polls.
“He will lose badly if he stands again. He not only lost in Langkawi (in GE15), he lost his deposit. This means he didn’t even get one-eighth of the vote, which means the Malays have totally abandoned him.
“Putra also has no chance at all in the next election or any election. All the Malay right-wing groups have already come under the Perikatan Nasional umbrella. There is no space for Putra. At most, it is just a pressure group making a lot of noise about Ketuanan Melayu,” he said.
Meanwhile, political analyst Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya said if Mahathir’s goal was to champion the Malays, he had chosen the wrong platform.
“It will be hard for him and Putra to champion the Malays when the party does not hold much influence,” Awang Azman said.
“The more he goes on about defending the Malays, the more people will question why he didn’t make use of his 22 years as prime minister. In fact, money politics started during his time in Umno and has now become endemic.
“Not to mention, he used to make fun of the Malays. So his relevance in politics is questionable. Many no longer take what he says seriously.”
Awang Azman said that Mahathir’s decision, such as switching parties and stepping down as the prime minister after 22 months helming the Pakatan Harapan government in 2020, would affect his standing as a respectable statesman.