He said such a back-door government could only come through PPBM as its leader was also the prime minister.

In the interview with the Oriental Daily newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, Lim said: “In politics, you need to clearly define who is a friend and who is the enemy. Because if we are not clear about this, not only will you suffer, you will also fail. These are basic discernment skills that all politicians need to master.”

He said he was confident that Dr Mahathir Mohamad would not subscribe to the notion of setting up a “backdoor government” without PH component parties DAP and Amanah, which had been speculated as a move by former Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hashim.

“Under the circumstances of DAP and Amanah not pulling out of PH, and not all PKR will withdraw from PH, and with PPBM’s rejection of a ‘backdoor’ government’ there would not be enough MPs for a new government to be formed,” he said.

He dismissed talk of bickering between the DAP and PPBM, saying it was usual in democracy to have dissenting views.