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Malaysia's opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has turned down an offer from former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to meet for talks regarding the upcoming GE15.

Better to listen to problems of the people

The Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman, who has been named the coalition's prime minister candidate, said that instead of playing "political games", he would rather meet with voters who are going through a tough time, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported.

He further said time is better spent listening to the people as he goes around before the country hits the polls on Nov. 19.

"This is not a time to being private (political) game plans to the table," said Anwar, who is also the People's Justice Party (PKR) president, at a fundraising event held on Saturday evening (Oct. 22).

"It's better for us to listen to the problems of the rakyat (public) and see how we can help them."

It appears that Anwar had a change of mind after telling reporters a day earlier on Oct. 21 that he has "no problems" meeting with Mahathir, as long as they are meeting for discussions related to fighting BN and PN on the basis of "rejecting corruption, racial (politics) and extremism", Malay Mail reported.

PH's stance, however, appears to be consistent with Anwar's latest remarks, with its secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution saying on Oct. 22 that while both the coalition and Mahathir want to defeat Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN), PH will face GE15 without the nonagenarian, Malaysiakini reported.

He also wished Mahathir luck for the election. The Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA) chairman will be defending his Langkawi seat.

Malaysia is due to hold its election on Nov. 19, with a 14-day campaign period that began on Nov. 5.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob dissolved parliament on Oct. 10, calling for an early election amid protests from his government allies and opposition alike on holding polls in the monsoon season, amid concerns of heavy rain and floods, AP reported.

Mahathir offers to talk with Anwar

Mahathir has indicated that he's open to working with Anwar once again, calling for "egos" to be cast aside to defeat BN, FMT reported.

Both met in 2018, when Anwar, who was Mahathir's former protégé turned nemesis, was still serving time in jail over his second sodomy conviction.

It was their first meeting in 18 years.

Mahathir had sacked Anwar as his deputy back in 1998, sparking an opposition movement known as Reformasi.

Mahathir also addressed accusations of him being "shameless" by meeting with Anwar, saying it was important for them to "prevent those who sullied the country's name from carrying on", referring to Najib's defeat in the 2018 election.

When Mahathir was serving his second stint as prime minister before he stepped down on Feb. 24, 2020, he repeatedly promised Anwar that he would hand over the reins to the PKR president.

When that did not transpire, Anwar said Mahathir had lied to him, and that he initially believed Mahathir would hand over the position after two years in office.

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