Malaysia's opposition coalition Sunday named 92-year-old former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad as the person to lead the nation should it win the general election to be called by June.

Its number one choice, Anwar Ibrahim who is currently in jail on a sodomy conviction he claimed was trumped up, will be freed on June 8, the Prisons Department said Sunday. But under the Federal Constitution, he cannot run for office for five years unless granted a royal pardon.

The opposition did name Anwar's wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the president of the People's Justice Party or PKR, as its choice to become deputy prime minister.

And if it wins power, Pakatan Harapan said it will immediately launch a legal process to seek a royal pardon for Anwar so that he can assume the premiership.

The four-party opposition coalition known as Pakatan Harapan, or Hope Alliance, made the announcements during a convention in Shah Alam in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, to loud cheers from delegates of "Hidup Tun" or "Long Live Tun," an honorific title for Mahathir.

In a speech to the convention, Mahathir acknowledged there are factions within the opposition coalition who disagreed with policies during his 22-year rule, and still view him as the enemy.

But Mahathir, who is now the chairman of the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia or "The Malaysian United Indigenous Party," said "we have to let go of the past because it will only distract us from our agenda."

Mahathir formed that party just over a year ago, after quitting the ruling United Malays National Organization which he had belonged to since its founding in 1946 and led for 22 years until retiring from office in 2003.

The main opposition to Mahathir's candidacy has been from Anwar's supporters, who cannot forgive Mahathir for sacking Anwar as his deputy in 1998 and then, they believe, orchestrating Anwar's first conviction for sodomy. He spent six years in prison before being released in 2004 after winning an appeal against that conviction.

"When I was in power, he was sent to Sungai Buloh (prison). It is not easy for him to accept me," Mahathir said of Anwar. "That's why it took a long time (for an agreement to be reached) but in the end, the priority is still to fight Datuk Seri Najib."

"Not only Anwar but his family has suffered for 20 years. For them to forget, that is hard. But in the end they decided to let go of the past and focus on the problems we are facing today. I am grateful and I thank Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his family," Mahathir said in front of Azizah and Nurul Izzah, Anwar's eldest daughter who is also a member of parliament.

Anwar was charged again with sodomy in 2008, in what he claims was a plot to ruin his political career hatched by Najib, who was then deputy prime minister.

The Federal Court, the country's highest court, dismissed his appeal against that conviction and sentenced him to five years in jail in February 2015.

One-third of that sentence will be waived for good behavior and he will be released on June 8, Prisons Department Director General Zulkifli Omar said in a statement Sunday.

Najib has been prime minister since April 2009.

Although Mahathir's first choice to succeed him when he stepped down in October 2003, Mahathir has now turned against him, calling Najib a "thief" over the scandal surrounding the state investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, that Najib founded.

Najib has been under pressure to step down since news leaked in 2015 that some $700 million ended up in his personal accounts just before the 2013 general election.

Describing the money as a "donation" from the Saudi royal family, Najib has since returned most of it and the justice ministry has cleared him of any wrongdoing.

At the convention, the opposition appealed for the chance to rule, pledging to clean up a government it claimed was riddled with corruption and to reform state institutions to make them freer and more credible.

Political pundits expect Najib to call the next election in March as the opposition remains fractious. The biggest opposition party, the Pan Islamic Party, opted out of the Pakatan Harapan, sparking concern of a fragmented opposition vote benefiting the ruling coalition.