Anwar, who is on the brink of getting a royal pardon after serving a second prison sentence for sodomy, is likely to rest after being released and before making his journey to the top.

Political analyst Khoo Kay Peng believes that deputy prime minister-designate and PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail will vacate her seat in Pandan to make way for Anwar to contest it.

“It will be odd if she doesn’t and it ends up being Anwar as PM, his wife as the DPM and the daughter (Nurul Izzah Anwar) in the fray as well.

“Questions will come up on whether it is proper for all three of them to be serving in the government at the same time. This is the kind of controversy the new government would want to avoid,” he told FMT.

He said a by-election would most likely be called in Pandan, just as a by-election was held in Permatang Pauh in May 2015 to enable Anwar to enter Parliament.

“It was part of the PH manifesto,” he said when asked if that sort of move would sit well with the people.

He said people knew that this would be the transition process for Anwar to become prime minister.

“It was already accepted that Mahathir will not serve a full term anyway. This will take one to two years and the transition should happen after a full half term by Mahathir. This is when Anwar will enter the fray.”

Khoo dismissed the likelihood that Anwar would take the route of being made a senator to eventually succeed Mahathir as prime minister.

“He would want a mandate from the people. It would be very unusual if that was the route taken.”

It was reported that the pardon for Anwar had been applied on the grounds of a “miscarriage of justice”, with the PKR de facto leader likely to be released tomorrow.

The world’s oldest leader at 92, Mahathir agreed to the transition when PH was formed and its manifesto was developed.

Anwar served as Mahathir’s deputy from 1993 to 1998 before he was jailed on sodomy charges. Anwar was released in 2004 and led the opposition under the banner of “Reformasi” in a bid to reform the country.