The party was formed by
Mahathir Mohamad at the beginning of the
2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis, which was triggered by his resignation as prime minister and the exit of his
Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) from the governing
Pakatan Harapan coalition. Mahathir and four MPs from BERSATU later rejected the leadership of
Muhyiddin Yassin, BERSATU's president, when he was appointed prime minister with the backing of a new coalition, and were subsequently expelled from the party in May. They were later joined by
Shahruddin Md Salleh, who resigned as deputy minister of works only three months after his appointment. Mahathir announced his intentions to form a new Malay-based party ahead of the
2020 Slim by-election, but was not joined in his endeavour by former youth minister
Syed Saddiq, a fellow BERSATU expellee. The party made its electoral debut at the Slim by-election held in August, where it finished a distant second. Fewer than three months later, former education minister
Maszlee Malik announced his departure from the party, at this point had yet to be formally registered, to sit as an independent MP. The party was formally registered in July 2021 after judicial review against the state authorities' decision to reject its application. While stating that the party was open to the possibility of co-operating with other parties, it contested the
2022 Johor state election outside of any coalition and fared poorly. It was defeated in the 42 (out of 56 total seats available) seats it contested. Party president Mukhriz Mahathir blamed the lack of exposure of the party's logo as one of the reasons for their defeat. In the
2022 general election, the party contested 158 out of 222 seats available as part of the
Gerakan Tanah Air coalition, but failed to be elected in any of them. The party's three sitting MPs that sought re-election, Mahathir in
Langkawi, Mukhriz in
Jerlun, and
Amiruddin Hamzah in
Kubang Pasu, fared poorly and lost their deposits. A number of party leaders subsequently resigned from their leadership roles, including Mahathir as party chairman. In January 2023, the party left Gerakan Tanah Air, which triggered the departure of a number of high-profile members, including Mahathir and deputy president
Marzuki Yahya. In February 2023, the party's number of elected representatives was reduced to four after its Selangor state chairman was ordered to vacate his
Batang Kali in the
Selangor legislative assembly as a result of non-attendance. The party lost the remainder of its representation after opting not to contest in the
2023 Malaysian state elections, which followed
Perikatan Nasional's decision not to admit it as a component party in March 2023. == List of leaders ==