The 'historic meeting' between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his arch-rival Anwar Ibrahim may cause unhappy PKR members to quit the party, Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed believes.

"Mahathir met Anwar, why? He wants to court the support of PKR. (But) he forgot that many people left Umno to join PKR 20 years ago because of what he did to Anwar," he said.

"So, when he met Anwar to show his support, I think it would turn off many PKR members," Nur Jazlan told a press conference after attending a Home Ministry psychology security seminar in Putrajaya today.

"It will actually help Umno-BN in the next general election because PKR members might be unhappy and they might leave PKR," he said.

Nur Jazlan, who is an Umno supreme council member, also said Mahathir approached Anwar because he knew of his inability (to win support from the people).

He said the former prime minister was not widely supported by the community.

"The community now is not the same community as it was during his 22 years (of premiership).

"The youth nowadays no longer know who Mahathir is. He knows he is weak, so he is forced to find Anwar to unite the opposition again," Nur Jazlan added.

Mahathir's appearance at the Kuala Lumpur court yesterday in support of Anwar's bid to challenge the National Security Council Act was their first meeting in 18 years.

Mahathir had sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister in 1998, while the former was stilll the prime minister.

Anwar was eventually expelled from Umno as well, and jailed for sodomy and corruption. He served his corruption conviction, and was freed in 2004 when his sodomy conviction was overturned.

But Anwar was once again charged with committing sodomy in 2008, and the Federal Court in February last year upheld his guilty conviction and five years' prison sentence.

Anwar has maintained that he is innocent and the charges against him are politically-motivated.

Mahathir's unhappiness with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak prompted him to set up Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), an opposition party meant to appeal to Umno's vote base.

But Bersatu has left the community largely sceptical about its ability to work with Pakatan Harapan in capturing Putrajaya in the next general election.

Opposition is torn apart

At the press conference today, Nur Jazlan said opposition parties were seeking an individual who could unite them all.

"The opposition is torn apart and is looking for a unifier - either Anwar or Mahathir," he said.

"The issue is that such a move has disappointed their own leaders, let alone the people in Umno and BN," he said, referring to the meeting between Anwar and Mahathir.

"This will strengthen the determination of BN people, who want to punish Mahathir for his willingness to stand together with the opposition to destroy BN," he said.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Azalina Othman Said said Mahathir met Anwar because the former premier was not confident with the strength of Bersatu under the leadership of Muhyiddin Yassin.

"There are many similarities between Mahathir and Anwar, friend today, foe tomorrow.

"In Western countries, if you're done, you're done, but here in our country, they are still engaging in politics.

"If this is the strategy needed (Mahathir meeeting Anwar) by the new party, then there is truly no confidence in that new party," Azalina said in a press conference in Parliament today.

The de facto law minister added that she was not surprised by the meeting between the two former leaders of the country.

"I am not surprised because Mahathir is an expert politician and a great leader, but in politics there are no permanent friends or enemies, what's wrong with just greeting each other?

"I want to see whether Mahathir will say that what had happened to Anwar previously did not actually happen. Is that the next step?" Azalina asked.