PETALING JAYA (March 13): Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says today he still has strong support from Malays even if former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is no longer on his side.

"Dr Mahathir may have rejected me, but the Malays have not. For example, I still have the majority support from the Malay community in my constituency of Port Dickson," he told a press conference here today.

"My patience is legendary. I'm not easily provoked," he added.

Earlier, the PKR de factor leader chaired a Pakatan Harapan (PH) meeting held at PKR headquarters to discuss the future direction of the former ruling coalition following its collapse in late February.

Anwar said PH is now focusing on helping the public in this critical period caused by the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic instead of making retaliatory moves against the current Perikatan Nasional (PN)-led government.

However, he said the coalition, comprising PKR, Parti Amanah Negara and DAP, is not discounting any possibility with regards to tabling a no-confidence motion against PN, when Parliament reconvenes in May.

"Based on what we discussed in the meeting earlier, we believe our focus now should be on the rakyat, but we are not ruling out the possibility of pursuing the [no-confidence] motion in the Dewan Rakyat," he said.

On Dr Mahathir's opinion that the PN administration may remain in power until the next general election, Anwar said there are contradicting views on the matter, but he refused to elaborate.

Asked whether PH is still willing to work with Dr Mahathir, Anwar said the coalition is open to negotiation to work with any leaders including the former seventh prime minister. "I have no problem working with him again."