Opposition parties must prioritise their coalition first if they were to succeed at the upcoming polls, said former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"The opposition coalition (component parties) must learn to help one another. (They must) not only think of their own party but to think of the coalition.

"It is the coalition that must win. Don't think about the party anymore," Mahathir told a fund-raising event for the Lembah Pantai PKR division in Kuala Lumpur last night.

Mahathir said the opposition must not lose sight of its main objective, which was to unseat BN and its leader Najib Abdul Razak.

Recounting his half-decade experience with the Alliance and later BN, Mahathir said these coalitions succeeded because their common objectives allowed component parties to share their support base.

For example, Mahathir said the strength of the ruling coalition allowed non-Malay candidates to be fielded in Malay-majority areas.

During his speech, Mahathir also stressed on the need for a common logo for the opposition coalition, similar to what BN had done with great success.

'We tried that before'

However, PKR vice-president and host of the event Nurul Izzah said while she agreed with Mahathir's common logo proposal, it would be a major challenge to introduce a brand-new symbol to voters in time for the next election.

"I agree that it would be much easier for us to campaign in the rural areas if we used the same symbol.

"But we must also remember that with a new symbol, the challenge is also to introduce it to the voters," she said during her speech.

She said the defunct Pakatan Rakyat coalition had attempted to register a common symbol before but this was rejected by the Registrar of Societies.

The event last night marked the first time Nurul Izzah and Mahathir appear on the same podium.

Nurul Izzah was once a fierce Mahathir critic following her father, Anwar Ibrahim's removal as deputy prime minister and his incarceration by the Mahathir government almost 20 years ago.

Other prominent opposition figures at the event included PKR secretary-general Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, PKR vice-president Tian Chua, Kelantan Parti Amanah Negara adviser Husam Musa and Selangor state assembly speaker Hannah Yeoh.