KLUANG, Feb 25 (Sin Chew Daily) – Mahdzir Ibrahim, the former political secretary to DAP Johor liaison committee chairman Liew Chin Tong, has joined Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, and will contest the Semerah state seat in the coming Johor election.

When approached by Sin Chew Daily, Mahdzir said he had nothing against any DAP leader, but was sickened by the party’s endless factional fights in Johor, prompting him to quit the party and join Pejuang last year.

Mahdzir was present when Pejuang’s president Mukhriz Mahathir unveiled the list of the party’s candidates for Johor state election in Muar yesterday. Mukhriz announced that Mahdzir Ibrahim would run in Semerah state constituency in Batu Pahat district.

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily today, Mahdzir said he had nothing against DAP’s leaders such as Lim Kit Siang or Lim Guan Eng, but felt that the party could not serve the people of Johor properly because of endless factional fights.

“People are already very frustrated but we are still quarreling among ourselves. So I think I must quit and look for an alternative platform.”

Mahdzir, who joined Pejuang last year, said his ultimate objective this year is to stop Umno from coming back, and where this is concerned, Pejuang and DAP are consistent.

He said DAP was still quite small when he joined the party, but as it grew stronger, internal conflicts began to emerge and as such, he felt he now should help a much smaller party Pejuang to better serve the people.