PKR vice-president Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin has endorsed Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali to lead the party.

Anwar will contest the presidency, although there are no challengers to date. Azmin, the current PKR deputy president, is set to be challenged by Rafizi Ramli.

The PKR election will commence on Aug 24, and will take place over nine weeks with the results expected to be announced in November.

Shamsul said that Anwar had extensive experience both as finance minister as well as a leader of the reformasi movement, while Azmin had been loyal to the cause.

"Azmin's loyalty to the reformasi struggle is unquestionable. He had never strayed from the struggle.

"Through the reformasi struggle, he became the Selangor menteri besar and led the state to excellence through his Peduli Rakyat and Smart Selangor initiatives.

"Now, he has been tasked as the economic affairs minister, a senior and important portfolio in the Pakatan Harapan administration," he said in a statement today.

Shamsul added that both Anwar and Azmin are needed, especially when the former takes over from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir had agreed to hand over power to Anwar in "two to three years."

"The time has come for Anwar to lead as party president. The father of reformasi should take his rightful position.

"The combination between Anwar and Azmin will be feared by the opposition.

"We support Anwar as the PKR president and Azmin as the deputy president," he said.