There is stiff competition among parties in Pakatan Harapan over who will get which ministry, should the opposition coalition win the next general election, Rizal Mansor claimed today.

In a statement, the aide to Rosmah Mansor, the prime minister's wife, said he heard that both DAP and Bersatu are competing to name their respective candidates for minister positions, especially for the Finance Ministry, Health Ministry, Education Ministry, and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.

"This is not including the squabble which will take place for the Penang chief minister's seat, should Lim Guan Eng end up going to prison over his under-market bungalow purchase, with DAP wanting to keep the post, and PKR wanting to have it.

"Dear Malaysians, even though the BN government is not perfect, at least (its component parties) do not squabble with one another for power and positions, because political instability will lead to economic instability, which the Chinese population will not like. Ask yourselves, is this what you want?" Rizal said.

He also questioned the "silence" from jailed opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim on the proposal to name Dr Mahathir Mahathir as the returning prime minister.

"Does Anwar's silence indicate the widening fracture within Harapan, as the 14th general election approaches, as everyone knows that DAP no longer supports Anwar as PM, but instead is rooting for Mahathir?" he asked.

Mahathir recently downplayed the prospect of becoming the prime minister again - a post which he occupied for 22 years until 2003.

"If people are desperate and cannot find anybody else (for the post), then maybe this 92-year-old can become a candidate," Mahathir said.