PETALING JAYA: Parti Pejuang Tanah Air has denied it will be cooperating with Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, labelling this as "fake news".

       "There seem to be attempts by various quarters who are trying to... give the impression that Pejuang will work together with Bersatu. This is irresponsible and is fake news.

       "Pejuang strongly denies such reports that the party will cooperate with Bersatu," its information chief Ulya Aqamah Husamudi said in a statement on Tuesday (July 13).

       He noted that if Pejuang truly intended to work with Bersatu and Perikatan Nasional, they would not have gone through the effort of getting registered as a political party.

       "We might as well have just returned to our old party," he said.

       Ulya said that Pejuang chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had also repeatedly denied such talk of cooperation.

       He added that Pejuang's political bureau had never discussed the issue and was focused on fighting the pandemic within the framework of the National Recovery Council.

       Ulya also denied there was any behind-the-scenes discussions and political manoeuvring to get Pejuang formally registered as a political party on July 8.

       On May 28 last year, Dr Mahathir and four others were sacked from Bersatu after they decided to sit with the Opposition bloc in Parliament on May 18.