Kuala Lumpur: Veteran Malaysian politician Anwar Ibrahim on Wednesday said that a group of lawmakers had backed him to become the country's next prime minister days after Mahathir Mohamad's shocking resignation.
But his comments came moments after Mahathir, at 94 the world's oldest leader, said that he wanted to form a unity government and was willing to return as premier.
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Anwar read a statement saying MPs from three parties that had been members of the "Pact of Hope" alliance, which formed the government until Mahathir's resignation, had named him as their candidate for the premiership.
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The shock developments deepened a crisis that began when the ruling coalition -- which included both men when it stormed to a historic poll victory in 2018 -- fell apart after a failed weekend bid to form a new government without Anwar.
Anwar was Mahathir's designated successor, but he would likely have been pushed out and blocked from becoming leader if the weekend's bid had succeeded.
Their notoriously stormy relationship has shaped Malaysian politicians ever since Mahathir -- during the first stint in office in the 1990s -- sacked Anwar as his deputy, and he was jailed on dubious sodomy and corruption charges.
They reconciled ahead of the 2018 polls to oust a corruption-plagued coalition led by Najib Razak, but many were sceptical Mahathir would stick to a vow to hand power to Anwar.
Mahathir, at 94 the world's oldest leader, was appointed interim leader following his resignation on Monday and he appeared initially to have strong support to return as premier.
With inputs from PTI
