PETALING JAYA, April 5 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad claimed that the 14th general election would not be fair, after his party was temporarily suspended today.

“There are no fair elections… forget about ‘bersih’,” Dr Mahathir told the audience at Pakatan Harapan’s (PH) National Business and Economic Forum at Dewan Sivik MBPJ here today, using the Malay word for “clean”.

The PH chairman also appeared upset when asked by the media to comment on the Registrar of Societies’ (RoS) decision.

“I will be having a press conference tonight… see you tonight,” he told reporters after the forum.

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Dr Mahathir expressed his disappointment over the temporary dissolution of PPBM and said the decision reflected the unfair electoral practices in the country.

He said there was little hope to have a clean election, accusing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak of trying to win the nationwide polls at any cost.

“RoS declared my party as illegal, which means I am not allowed to identify myself with the illegal party.

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“They linked us with the Pakatan Harapan coalition, which now cannot be approved because amongst its members there is an illegal party,” he said before a crowd of 100 attendees at the forum.

Earlier today, the RoS temporarily disbanded PPBM for failure to furnish requested paperwork.

Under the suspension order, PPBM may not conduct any activities or use its logo, essentially ruling out its direct participation in the general election.

The party has 30 days from the issuance of the order to provide the necessary information and documentation to cancel the temporary suspension.

PH would also not be able to proceed with its registration, as PPBM was one of its component parties.