"Bigwang" in Malay means warrior. It is the title of a poem in which former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced the name of his new party and posted it on his blog.

In the opinion of Professor of Ethnicities at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) Professor Shamsul Bahruddin, the name of the new party, "The Warrior for the Fatherland" reflects the personality of Mahathir, who recently celebrated his 95th birthday. Who has fought countless wars, and is preparing for a new battle.

For his part, political analyst Azmi Hassan expressed his belief that the name "warrior" may turn into a point of weakness and criticism by Mahathir's political opponents, as far as it reflects his biography, and contrary to his ambition that the party be the decisive in any future elections, it may turn into a weapon of equipment. Double edged.

With the poem "The Warrior," Mahathir launched an attack on his former comrades, accusing them of selling him for money and power, and allying with what he described as corrupt in the UMNO party and the National Front Alliance.

He also accused the current Prime Minister, Muhyiddin Yassin, of kidnapping the "Unity of the Sons of the Earth" party, which he formed prior to the 2018 elections. Yassin is still head of the party after Mahathir was removed from his leadership.

Observers believe that Yassin took advantage of Mahathir's tactical resignation last February from the premiership to replace him as leader of the party and form a new government.

Mahathir (fourth right) with the leaders of his new party (networking sites)

Reactions
Although the new party follows the Malay ethnicity, which constitutes the majority of the population, which Mahathir said has suffered greatly due to corruption, the veteran politician Chief Orphan considered the formation of the "warrior" party a distraction of Malay ethnicity, and Mahathir was given the choice between returning to the Unity of the Earths Party or "Amno." ".

Yateem - who is a former minister and a leader in the Sons of the Earth Unity Party known as Bersato - said in press statements, "There is no logical basis for forming a new party, at a time when we are looking for unity." Except in the fragment of Malay.

The leader of the opposition in Parliament, Anwar Ibrahim, believed that forming any party is a constitutional right, and at the same time he criticized the formation of new political parties on ethnic grounds.

"The time has come to move beyond ethnic parties," he said in a student conference via videoconference, and that young people are choosing this path.

Ibrahim - who is the leader of the People's Justice Party - added that Malaysians have the right to safeguard their rights and maintain their respect and dignity, and at the same time all Malaysians of different races have the right to feel that they are equal Malaysian citizens.

Anwar Ibrahim criticized the formation of parties on ethnic grounds while speaking at a youth conference via a closed television circuit (Al-Jazeera)

Exposing No Statement
While some observers considered political writing through poetry an attempt to play the strings of Malay sentiment, political analyst Azmi Hassan saw in Mahathir resorting to this method a Malay tradition to direct indirect criticism, as the poem carried a lot of exposure to political parties and other politicians from different Spectra.

Hassan likened Mahathir's use of poetry to criticize his political rivals to the mother-in-law avoiding directly criticizing her daughter-in-law according to the Malay tradition, and by her usual exposure to criticism. Once and has not been tried before.

Many expect that young people will be a decisive factor in the upcoming elections after lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, allowing six million new voters to vote in the 2023 elections, if they are not decided because of the political situation that is often described as fragile due to the government's lack of a comfortable majority. In Parliament.

It is worth noting that the Supreme Court in Kuala Lumpur rejected Mahathir Muhammad's appeal against the decision to dismiss him from his former Sons of the Earth party.

Mahathir said - upon announcing his intention to form a new party - that it is an electoral necessity, expressing his confidence in the grassroots support for the new party in the upcoming elections.