Umno should not be scared of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu), a 'mosquito party' that is yet to be officially formed, said Bersatu pro-tem president Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said this in response to Umno secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who claimed that the party should not be allowed to use 'Bersatu' as its acronym, as the word is so common.

"Yeah, our party is so common, Umno should not be scared of this party. It is like a mosquito party, it is not even formed yet," he said after attending a blood donation campaign at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur.

"I don't have members yet, we don't have branches and divisions that they (Umno) have, we don't have million of members, we dont even have money. So they shouldn't be so worried about this party," he said.

"Does it mean Umno felt the birth of new party is a real threat, they just said it is a splinter, some say the splinter would not last, so why are they concerned?

"What is the big thing about a name anyway?" he asked.

Muhyiddin however advised his detractors not to criticise too much about the party.

"It is his prerogative to criticise, this is democracy. People have right to say what they want to say.

"But the lesser they say about this party the better, in that sense, give us a chance, I think Malaysians want to see the chance (given to Bersatu)," he said.

Tengku Adnan has reportedly told the Registrar of Societies (ROS) not to allow 'Bersatu' used as the shortform for the new party.

Similarly, the federal territories minister also saw an issue with Parti Amanah Negara, which used 'Amanah' as its shortform.

“I also do not understand why (Amanah) was approved. Amanah is also ‘common’.

“Therefore, I hope the ROS director-general could look into this, where they are using words like this to confuse the public,” he added.