GE14 | The feud between Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his former heir-apparent Anwar Ibrahim made headlines around the world two decades ago.

Now, their alliance is also making headlines.

In an interview with The Guardian, the former premier is confronted with this question and his current opinion regarding Anwar's sexual orientation.

Asked if he still believes Anwar is gay, Mahathir replied: “Well that is what the police told me.”

“I didn’t examine him, but I am dependent on the police and I have to accept their evidence,” he added.

On whether Anwar deserved to be in prison for this, the Pakatan Harapan chairperson was clear on how he felt about the matter.

“I'm a Muslim, we don't accept that. You can be a liberal and accept same-sex marriage and all that, but that's your business. We are very orthodox people,” he said.

Anwar is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for sodomy and is slated to be released on June 8.

He was found guilty of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan.

The former opposition leader has maintained that the charge against him, similar to the first when Mahathir was prime minister, was fabricated by his political rivals.

His supporters and human rights organisations around the world have described him as a prisoner of conscience.

Mahathir and Anwar had made peace on the grounds that the pair needed to join forces to rescue the nation from caretaker prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Anwar, on the other hand, said the nation's future was more important than his personal grievances.

However, in a recent ceramah, Anwar's wife and Mahathir's second-in-command in Harapan, Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, touched on her husband's ordeal in 1998.

Without mentioning Mahathir's name, she recalled how the police stormed their residence in Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, and that she went to the police headquarters barefoot to plead with them not to hurt him.

She raised how Anwar was assaulted by then inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor, and likened her husband's black eye to the PKR symbol, which is the common logo for all Harapan candidates, including Mahathir, who is contesting the Langkawi parliament seat.

Wan Azizah, who is also PKR president, urged voters to avenge the tyranny against her husband in next week's 14th general election.