Dr Mahathir Mohamad is expected to announce the formation of a new party during a press conference scheduled for 4pm, according to sources.
This comes after the High Court in Kuala Lumpur allowed an application by Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin to set aside a suit by Mahathir and four other Bersatu MPs over their sacking from the party.
Sources said Mahathir would hold the presser at either his office in Yayasan Al Bukhary in Kuala Lumpur or at a hotel.
“It has been scheduled for 4pm. A press advisory (on the event) will be issued shortly,” said one of the sources from Mahathir’s camp.
“Tun (Mahathir) will be speaking at a hotel in Bangsar, so reporters can be on standby there,” said another source when asked to confirm the presser.
On July 23, Mahathir had said that if the court decision was not in his favour, he would form a new party.
Mahathir is believed to be eyeing the name Parti Bersatu Rakyat Malaysia, in an apparent attempt to use the term “Bersatu” from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.
However, another source said the name was not among those proposed by the Bersatu Blackout faction.
Bersatu Blackout is what loyalists of Dr Mahathir still within Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia call themselves.