A political analyst has provided a royal twist to Dr Mahathir Mohamad's appointment as chairperson of Pakatan Harapan.

Apart from securing Malay votes, James Chin claimed the former prime minister would also serve as the conduit between the rulers and Harapan if the opposition coalition wins the next general election.

The University of Tasmania's Asia Institute lecturer said the Harapan leadership is aware that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and BN would not relinquish power easily if defeated in the next general election.

The conventional wisdom, Chin said, is that if BN loses the vote, it would attempt to cling on to power via an emergency rule or through the Conference of Rulers (COR)...