Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has reaffirmed that he will definitely hand over the reins to Anwar Ibrahim.

Mahathir: Anwar will be next PM

The confirmation follows a months-long rumour that Mahathir would make Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali his successor instead.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published on Monday, Nov. 4, Mahathir replied, "Yes I will", when asked if he will definitely pass on the baton to the People's Justice Party (PKR) president.

Will step down before next GE

"Although there are lots of other people who have been asking me to carry on until the next election, but that is their view," Mahathir added.

"My commitment is to step down before the next election, certainly."

The next general election in Malaysia has to be called by 2023.

No timeline for transition yet

Previously, Mahathir said that the transfer of his position to Anwar has never been discussed.

This was despite the transition being stated in the agreement that paved the way for Mahathir to be nominated as the prime ministerial candidate for the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition.

However, there was no stipulated timeline mentioned in the document.

Mahathir has yet to set a time frame for the power transition to take place, which has been a point of contention.

Back in September 2019, he said it will be "difficult" for the date to be fixed should preparations be insufficient.

He also said that he needs to accomplish "a few things" in the the next three years before he steps down.

Top image via Xinhua/Zhuwei