Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has expressed his appreciation to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim, who had given his encouragement to the soon to be formed political party.

“I appreciate that. His approval is something that we value,” Mahathir told reporters at the sidelines of his wife Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali’s book launch today.

The former prime minister was asked to comment on Anwar who had described the formation of the new party as a “positive step”.

Mahathir, however, said that freeing Anwar - who is currently incarcerated for sodomy - was secondary to bringing the current government down.

“Without that, we can talk about freeing Anwar or whatever, (but) it's not going to happen," he said.

The priority, he added, was to ensure that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his party (Umno) would not win in the next general election.

Anwar had previously penned a scathing letter, warning PKR leaders on the dangers of working with former prime minister Mahathir.

Mahathir had in 1998 sacked Anwar as deputy prime minister.

The country's longest serving prime minister last week confirmed that a new political party would be formed and that a new group or coalition, would also be formed to further the Save Malaysia movement’s objectives.