Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad must contest in the 14th general election if he wants to become the opposition leader, PKR chief Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has said.

Wan Azizah, who is the current opposition leader, said this in reference to Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak's challenge to Mahathir to openly oppose BN as the chief of the opposition.

"If Tun (Mahathir) wants to be the opposition leader, let him contest first. I rose up (to become the opposition leader) because I contested and I have a seat in Parliament.

"I hope Tun can do the same," the Permatang Pauh MP was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.

Salleh wrote in his blog that taking an official leadership position in the opposition was the morally right thing for Mahathir to do, since he was already performing a de facto role.

Mahathir had campaigned for the Parti Amanah Negara candidates in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections after falling out with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over the 1MDB and RM2.6 billion donation scandal.

'Wan Azizah not challenging Mahathir'

Meanwhile, PKR communications director Fahmi Fadzil said today it was shocking that a federal minister like Salleh seemed to be unaware of the procedure to select an opposition leader.

"He should not abandon hard facts or procedural realities just to attempt to drive a wedge in the opposition," said Fahmi in a statement.

He also criticised Berita Harian for "spinning" the issue to make it appear as if the Permatang Pauh MP was challenging Mahathir to contest in the next election.

"In her reply to the Berita Harian reporter, Wan Azizah was not at all challenging Mahathir to stand in elections, but she was merely correcting Salleh's statement: that a parliamentary opposition leader must be chosen from amongst current members of parliament, and not just picked like what was incorrectly said by Salleh," he said.