Pakatan Harapan will not give up on the prospect of its jailed leader Anwar Ibrahim becoming prime minister, says opposition leader Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

“Never say never,” she told reporters in Petaling Jaya today when asked if the opposition coalition accepted the fact that her husband would never become prime minister.

She then cited the late Nelson Mandela as an example, pointing out that he became president of South Africa after 27 years in prison.

She added that Pakatan would discuss appointing a “transitional” prime minister.

Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) communications director Khalid Samad (photo), who was also present, said they would discuss naming an interim prime minister should Harapan capture federal power in the next general election.

The interim prime minister would serve until Anwar, who is serving a five-year prison sentence, is released and becomes eligible to lead.

It is believed that the 69-year-old would not be able to contest in the next general election, which is due in 2018, as Anwar can only stand in an election five years after his release from, which will be in February 2020.

Khalid agreed that the opposition could not forsake Anwar, despite all the contributions and reformations he had made.

"He's been the number one victim of the BN's policies against him, and they imprisoned him too. We cannot just say, 'Okay lah, thank you very much, you stay in prison, we take over from here'," he said.

'Not a matter of utmost importance'

However, Khalid acknowledged that the issue of a candidate for interim prime minister was not a matter of utmost importance to be discussed by Harapan and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia.

The most important issue for the opposition iron out is a common policy framework and manifesto, he said.

"Whoever becomes prime minister has to implement the policies we agree on. There are many people who are capable of becoming the interim or temporary prime minister," he said.

Former prime minister and Bersatu chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad has advised the opposition against naming its choice for prime minister at this time.

"If we name the PM, there will be others who will be disappointed and there will be quarrels among us. At the moment we can't name the PM," Mahathir said.

Khalid also said Amanah would discuss with Harapan and Bersatu on their intention to contest in 40 'winnable' parliamentary seats in the coming general election.

Most of the 40 seats were contested by PAS in the past, while few are PKR seats, according to him.

With the existence of Amanah and Bersatu, Khalid said, the political scenario has changed, if compared with the 2013 general election.

"We cannot use the scenario of the 2013 (general election) as a basis for seat negotiations. People who keep on talking about the 2013 election are as though living in a world that has stopped," he said.

Amanah would also suggest that the opposition identifies which party will lead the states that fall to Harapan and Amanah.

"We (need) to ensure that every party has a state of its own as its base, for this will make the seat negotiations easier," Khalid added.