Homeland Fighter's Party

The party was formed by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was also the former Chairman of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party. He resigned as Prime Minister on 24 February 2020,[1] the same day BERSATU announced its departure from the then ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.[2] In March, Muhyiddin Yassin, the President and the acting Chairman of BERSATU was appointed the new Prime Minister. However, Mahathir and five other MPs including former Menteri Besar of Kedah Mukhriz Mahathir, former Minister of Education Maszlee Malik, and former Minister of Youth and Sports Syed Saddiq did not support Muhyiddin and the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, for which they would be expelled from BERSATU in May.[3] They were later joined by Shahruddin Md Salleh, who resigned as Deputy Minister of Works only three months after his appointment while recanting his support for Muhyiddin.

In August, Mahathir announced that he would be forming a new Malay-based party.[4] On 12 August, it adopted the name Parti Pejuang Tanah Air, with Mahathir and four of the five expelled BERSATU MPs as founding members.[5] The party made its debut in the Slim by-election on 29 August, but its candidate Amir Khusyairi lost to the Barisan Nasional's Mohd Zaidi Aziz. On 21 August, Syed Saddiq, the only former BERSATU MP not to have participated in PEJUANG's founding announced that he would instead form a new party,[6] Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA). On 2 November, Mazlee announced his resignation as a member of PEJUANG only three months after its founding to become an independent MP. He would later join Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

In January 2021, the Registrar of Societies (RoS) rejected the party's application for registration.[7] The RoS' decision was appealed by the party but left unresolved for 5 and a half months. On 25 June, the High Court ordered the Home Minister to make a decision regarding the registration of PEJUANG within 14 days[8] and on 8 July 2021, PEJUANG was finally registered as a political party.[9]

On 16 April 2021, PEJUANG Deputy-President Marzuki Yahya said if Pejuang were to work with PN, it would only be done in the interest of the country.[10]

On 22 January 2022, Johor PEJUANG chief, Dr Shahruddin Mohd Salleh, announced that the party would be contesting in the 2022 Johor state election alone, but remained open to the possibility of co-operating with other parties.[11] PEJUANG contested in 42 of the state's 56 seats and failing to win any of them. Party president Mukhriz Mahathir blamed the lack of exposure of the party's logo as one of the reasons for their defeat.[12]

In the 2022 election, PEJUANG contested for 158 out of 222 seats, but no one was elected.[13] Mahathir, the party Chairman, as well as the party's MP for Langkawi, not only failed to get elected but also lost his deposit.[13] This was also the fate of two other PEJUANG MPs, namely Mukhriz (MP for Jerlun) and Amiruddin (MP for Kubang Pasu).[13]

On 11 December 2022, PEJUANG Youth Leader Abu Hafiz Salleh Hudin announced his resignation. He said the decision was made after taking into account various considerations including a sense of responsibility towards the party's performance in GE15.[14]

On 16 December 2022, PEJUANG Chairman Mahathir Mohamad resigned.[15]

On 20 December 2022, Federal Territory PEJUANG chief and party’s Executive Council Khairuddin Abu Hassan resign. He said he decided to take this action following Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s resignation as PEJUANG chairman.[16]

On 14 January 2023, PEJUANG left GTA. Its President Mukhriz said PEJUANG need focus on strengthening the party before adding value to any coalition. The decision was made after taking into account the views of the representatives in the second PEJUANG General Assembly, following the party's heavy defeat in the past 15th General Election (GE15). However, Mukhriz said PEJUANG took the stance of remaining open to hold any negotiations with any existing political coalition in the run-up to the State Election (PRN) which is expected to take place this year.[17]

On 10 February 2023, Mahathir Mohamad left PEJUANG along with PEJUANG Deputy-President Marzuki Yahya and 11 other PEJUANG members. They took that decision after PEJUANG acted out of Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA).[18]

On 16 February 2023, PEJUANG lost one of its only five MLAs with its Selangor State Chairman Harumaini Omar losing his Selangor Batang Kali state seat after Speaker Ng Suee Lim vacated his seat over his absence in the legislative assembly for six months.[19]

On 2 March 2023, Mukhriz announced that he had sent an application letter to Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin on 1 March 2023 for joining PN as its component party and hoped to receive a positive reply.[20] However on 21 March 2023, PN secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin revealed that the application had been rejected by PN a day before on 20 March 2023.[21]

Mukhriz announced on 22 July 2023 that the party would not contest in the 2023 Malaysian state elections, after its failure to collaborate with PN, and to prepare the party for the next general election.[22] This means its remaining 4 MLAs, including Mukhriz, would not defend their seats and left PEJUANG with no representation in State Assembly.

Chairman

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Term of office
1	Mahathir Mohamad (b. 1925)		12 August 2020	17 December 2022

President

No.	Name (Birth–Death)	Portrait	Term of office
1	Mukhriz Mahathir (b. 1964)		12 August 2020	Incumbent

• Politics of Malaysia
• List of political parties in Malaysia