He stressed, however, that he was not inviting Umno as a party to join the alliance.
“I invite Umno members (to join the alliance) because they are Malays. If they agree with our efforts, we welcome them,” he told reporters at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here today.
Perikatan Nasional chairman Muhyiddin Yassin, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin and PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man were also present at the press conference.
Mahathir said the big-tent alliance, which included PAS and Bersatu, would not be a formal political party for now.
He said it would be a loose coalition or a “big umbrella” to rally the Malays in an effort to save the community from what he described as political and economic decline.
“There are many groups trying to unite the Malays, but if there are too many, we end up split. We can only win if we are united. And we can only regain power if we win,” he said.
Mahathir also claimed that Malays today faced many threats and were afraid to speak openly about their concerns because of government restrictions on free speech, including on race, royalty and religion (3Rs).
He said the position of Bahasa Melayu as the national language was also being sidelined, as “many other languages are being spoken”.
He also claimed there was a lack of protection for Malay rights, despite such rights being enshrined in the constitution.
“The government stops us from talking about the Malays. It says that 3Rs are off-limits. Even what I say today may not be reported in the newspapers, only on social media. This is a cruel government.
“We just want the Malays to realise that their position is under threat. Many, especially in the rural areas, don’t understand this danger. We must help them see it,” he said.
He also said the alliance would begin preparing to contest future elections in an effort to return political control to the Malays.
Last month, Mahathir said Malay-based parties, including PN, had failed to unite the community. He said Malay unity could not be achieved within the confines of political parties as they all “have their own agendas”.
The new alliance is not Mahathir’s first attempt at uniting the Malays. In August 2022, he announced the formation of a coalition called Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) comprising Malay-based parties, NGOs, academics and professionals.
In May 2023, Mahathir quit GTA after it failed to obtain voters’ support during the 15th general election.
GTA contested in 125 seats in the November 2022 nationwide polls but all its candidates, including Mahathir and his son Mukhriz, who is the Pejuang president, were defeated and lost their deposits. Pejuang also left GTA in January 2023 to focus on strengthening the party.