Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim appear to be “in love” but warned that it may quickly turn to hate as it has been for decades.

He said this when responding to Mahathir’s second meeting with Anwar yesterday after the duo buried the hatchet.

“They deserve each other. Mahathir and Anwar are in a love-hate relationship.

“When Mahathir was prime minister and Anwar was deputy prime minister, it was love. Before that, it was hate because Anwar was a student leader.

“Now it’s the second episode. Perhaps in the third episode, they will quarrel again,” he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.

Anwar was a student activist in the 1970s and was detained under the Internal Security Act for organising the Baling protests.

He surprised opposition circles when he joined Umno in 1982, after being convinced to do so by the then-prime minister.

Anwar rose to become deputy prime minister but was jailed in 1999 for sodomy and corruption after a falling out with Mahathir.

However, the duo made up last year after Mahathir joined the opposition in his bid to dislodge Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak whom he accused of corruption.

Najib has denied wrongdoing or taking public funds for personal gain after multi-billion ringgit deposits in his personal accounts were highlighted.