GE15: GTA looking at fielding NGO candidates, says Mukhriz

JOHOR BARU: Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) is looking at fielding candidates from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to contest in the 15th General Election (GE15), says Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir.

The GTA pro-tem deputy chairman said that apart from the four component parties under the coalition, GTA is also receiving support from several NGOs including Perkasa and Gagasan Bangsa.

"What is unique about GTA is that it is the only coalition that is a hybrid of political parties and NGOs.

"The existence of these NGOs in GTA is what makes us different from other coalitions such as Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan. It is to our advantage," he said.

He said this in a press conference after attending the Johor GTA meeting here at the state Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) headquarters on Saturday (Oct 15).

Mukhriz, who is also Pejuang president, said that by selecting candidates from NGOs under GTA, the coalition would be able to attract the attention of more people.

"We are very open to offering NGOs in GTA to be candidates in the election.

"The image of politicians is not that great among the people at the moment, perhaps because of what happened in the past two years.

"However, the group that they trusted the most are NGOs as they are the ones who have been helping the people during the pandemic," he said.

On a related matter, Mukhriz said that the coalition will be finalising its list of candidates in the next two weeks.

"In the past, we have expressed our interest in contesting 120 seats nationwide, especially Malay majority areas in Peninsular Malaysia.

"In Johor, there are 17 Malay majority seats out of the 26 Parliamentary seats. We will finalise the number of seats we will contest soon," he said.