KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — An existing party rebranded ostensibly to cater for ethnic minorities here is seeking to join Pakatan Harapan, pledging to deliver at least 25 parliamentary seats to the federal Opposition pact by swinging minority votes in the constituencies.

The Minorities Rights Action Party (Mira), a rebranded version of the four-year-old New Generation Party (NewGen), will apply to join PH next week, its president A. Rajaretinam said today.

The party, which claims to represent some 19 per cent of voters from ethnic minorities, will also act as Indian representatives within the PH fold.

Rajaretinam said that the party will not demand any federal or state seats, and will instead fully focus in supporting PH candidates in marginal seats during the forthcoming elections.

“Our only request is for the future (Pakatan Harapan) government to ratify the United Nations’ resolution on minority rights, which is yet to be implemented by Malaysia,” he said.

He said that while Indians are not the single determining group in any constituency, a small swing in their vote could influence the outcome of 38 marginal seats held by BN and 24 won by PH.

Rajaretinam also claimed his party could help Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) win the state of Kedah, which was previously ruled by the defunct Pakatan Rakyat under the leadership of PAS between 2008 and 2013.

Apart from Indians, the group also claimed to represent the Serani, the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia, and all the ethnic minorities in Sabah and Sarawak.

Rajaretinam said his party is not a competitor to the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), which has held discussions with PH about joining the pact.

The NewGen has gone through a raft of changes this year.

In March, former senator Datuk Mohd Ezam Mohd Nor and former Umno leader Datuk Khairuddin Abu Hassan joined the party, but both resigned just four months later.

This was over attempts to change the party’s name to Parti Bebas Rasuah (PBR), which was not approved by Registrar of Societies (ROS).

S. Gobi Krishnan, the co-founder of the party, also subsequently quit the party.