PKR president-elect Anwar Ibrahim says he has never asked for an apology from Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Instead, he said he has forgiven Mahathir, and is happy that the two are working together.

"I have never asked him to apologise. I have always been firm that I am satisfied with his demeanour and readiness to work with me. Forget the past and move on. It is you who are demanding forgiveness, or the BBC.

"I have said that I have forgiven him, (and) even (former prime minister) Najib Abdul Razak on a personal level.

"Najib has to face, of course, the issues of squandering public funds – that is a separate issue. But I think that with Mahathir, it need not be equated, because he is committed to the reform agenda.

"He has embraced me as a partner and in this process, I think that speaks volumes," Anwar was quoted as saying by The Star.

Read more: I never apologised to Anwar, Dr M tells BBC

Anwar was responding to Mahathir's remarks on the BBC programme Hardtalk, in which he said he had never formally apologised to Anwar for sacking him as deputy prime minister in 1998.

“I didn’t tell him that, but other people put words into my mouth because they want me to apologise. But I never made any formal apology to him,” said Mahathir.

Quoting Anwar, Hardtalk host Zeinab Badawi said: “Mahathir has proven his tenacity, accepted past limitations, apologised and sacrificed his time and energy to raise the dignity of the people and the country.”

However, Mahathir said this was Anwar's personal opinion.