Anwar said the council was the best platform for party leaders to discuss the new proposal and for Mahathir to explain.

“We will have the presidential council meeting and of course it is the best place for us to discuss anything, including the PM’s new proposal. The meeting will happen on Monday. It is the regular monthly meeting and I am sure this matter will be raised and he will have the room to explain,” he said.

Anwar, who was at the launching of Universiti Malaya’s Endowment Fund, had been asked to comment on Mahathir’s invitation. On Thursday, he had said that more and more Malay parties were being formed, which reduced the potential of the Malay parties to win the election.

“Yes, join PPBM. When our group is big, we become strong, but don’t stop others from joining the party, let them join. If we are split, we become weak, united we stand, divided we fall. But we find that there are people forming new parties,” he had told reporters after attending a Johor PPBM Hari Raya event.

“Now we have become six, soon there will be 10, then 100. There are 30 people in one party. How to win?”

The response from Umno has been largely negative, with party leaders outright rejecting the invitation to join PPBM. Former Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin, however, asked party members to take a positive view of Mahathir’s offer.