KUALA LUMPUR: Bersatu president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said his meeting with Parti Pejuang Tanah Air (Pejuang) chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was part of the initiative to explore possible avenues of cooperation during the 15th General Election (GE15).

Muhyiddin said the initiative was an early step to get the views of leaders of main political parties besides Barisan Nasional (BN) to avoid multi-cornered fights in GE15, but no final decision had been reached as yet.

The Pagoh MP claimed that following the Johor state election, he was approached by leaders of several political parties, including Pejuang, that expressed that view.

"They realise that the majority of Malaysians do not support BN.... but because of the multi-cornered fights between contesting parties, the anti-BN vote ended up being split. This resulted in BN winning both the Melaka and Johor state elections, although they were rejected by the majority of voters.

"They agreed to avoid multi-cornered fights in GE15 as best as possible to prevent BN from returning to power. Such views have been voiced by many political analysts," he said in a Facebook post today.

Last Tuesday, media outlets reported that Pejuang president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir confirmed that Mahathir and Muhyiddin had meet two weeks after the Johor election to discuss suggestions of cooperation during GE15.

-- BERNAMA