'Tun Mahathir rejected me' - Anwar

"Tun Mahathir rejected me."

That was the reaction by PKR president, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, when commenting on claims by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in an exclusive interview with Sinar Harian on Thursday.

The former Prime Minister had said that the Malays do not support the MP for Port Dickson in the wake of his liberal political philosophy.

Commenting further, Anwar said he stood for election in an area where the majority were Malay voters.

"In Port Dickson, a majority of more than 60 per cent supported me. It was the same in Permatang Pauh.

“So, I don't think it is necessary for me to comment on the matter," he said at a press conference at the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) headquarters in Petaling Jaya today. Also present were PKR Secretary-General, Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, and PKR Vice President, Dr Xavier Jayakumar.

Anwar was facing the media for the first time since the formation of the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) government led by Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

At the same time, Anwar also did not rule out the possibility of pushing a motion for a vote of no confidence against the prime minister during the upcoming Dewan Rakyat sitting.

He said discussions with DAP Secretary-General, Lim Guan Eng, and Amanah president, Mohamad Sabu, this morning did not rule out any possibility.

However, he said he did not want to focus too much on political squabbles as the people were already tired with economic problems including the issue of many who lost their jobs.

Meanwhile, Anwar’s press secretary, Tunku Nashrul Tunku Abaidah, when contacted by Astro AWANI on Friday said the Pakatan Harapan (PH) has yet to make a decision on the appointment of the Opposition Leader and the matter was still under discussion.

However, given the demographics of the parliamentary seats, DAP is seen to hold the majority with 42 seats, followed by the PKR (39 seats).

With this in mind, Anwar is seen as having a big chance of becoming the Opposition Leader during the Dewan Rakyat siting scheduled to convene on May 18.