Perikatan Nasional (PN) chairman Muhyiddin Yassin today said that he, too, was ready to work with Dr Mahathir Mohamad after the former prime minister told MalaysiaNow that he was open to collaborating once again with his former ally.

"I welcome Mahathir's statement that he is ready to cooperate with me for the sake of championing the well-being of the Malays and Islam," he said.

"As a Muslim, I am personally ready to work with all Malay and Muslim leaders, including Mahathir, in order to defend religion, race, and country."

Mahathir said in an exclusive interview with MalaysiaNow this week that he was ready to work with Muhyiddin if an agreement could be reached on mutual goals.

The former prime minister said a main goal should be efforts to champion the Malay cause, in addition to rejecting those involved in corruption or criminal misconduct.

He said the Malays were currently split according to political party, which made them weak and unable to rectify the situation.

"We have split into many parties, and we have lost power. When we lose power, we cannot correct the circumstances which are detrimental to the Malays.

"This is why we need to unite," Mahathir, who served as prime minister twice for a total of 24 years, said.

The former Langkawi MP had worked with Muhyiddin to form Bersatu in 2016, after the latter was sacked from Umno over his open criticism of the 1MDB scandal.

Mahathir was appointed as chairman of Bersatu, which joined hands with Pakatan Harapan (PH) to topple more than six decades of Barisan Nasional rule at the 14th general election in 2018.

Two years later, he was sacked from Bersatu after the change of government in the wake of the Sheraton Move, which saw the collapse of the PH administration, and Muhyiddin was made prime minister in his stead.

Muhyiddin himself resigned in August 2021 after losing his majority support in the Dewan Rakyat.

He currently leads the PN coalition which consists of Bersatu, PAS and Gerakan.