PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Division chiefs from Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) have expressed their support to Anwar Ibrahim as the party president and as the country's next Prime Minister.

The pledge of support comes amid reports of an internal crisis in the party, which is one of the four components of ruling Pakatan Harapan coalition.

A joint statement issued by 197 PKR division chiefs nationwide said they felt compelled to express their solid support to Datuk Seri Anwar to drive and lead the party.

The party has 219 division chiefs nationwide.

"This support directly proves that Keadilan (PKR) is still solid and united under Anwar's leadership, and at the same time dispels the perception that the party is facing turmoil and is split.

"We are committed to supporting Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to lead the country as the eighth Prime Minister as has been agreed by the leadership of Pakatan Harapan before the 14th General Election," the statement read.

The Starhad reported that opposition leaders met Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir last week to urge him to stay the full term, amid bitter infighting between Mr Anwar, 71, and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, 54, over who would be the next prime minister of Malaysia.

The infighting between the top two PKR leaders became worse following the emergence of a video in June, said to feature Mr Azmin and a young man engaging in sex acts.

The two main Malay Muslim opposition parties, Umno and Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS), have indicated that they prefer Dr Mahathir to Mr Anwar, due to the elder statesman's credentials as a firm Malay Muslim nationalist, while Mr Anwar could listen more to non-Muslim MPs in the Chinese-led Democratic Action Party (DAP) in drawing up policy.