Former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib is unfazed at the opposition mocking his re-entry to Umno.

"Let them be syok sendiri (be full of themselves)," he said in a text message to Malaysiakini when asked to respond to the reaction to him rejoining Umno.

"He who laughs first, laughs last (sic)," he added.

Muhammad had in 2013 quit Umno to join PAS and later joined PKR in 2015.

He became the topic of jokes amongst the opposition, which had expected a major setback when Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak summoned top Umno leaders from across the country for an "important announcement" in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

When it was revealed the announcement was the return of a retired menteri besar to Umno, opposition leaders began taking to social media to poke fun at the anti-climatic outcome.

Muhammad, better known as Mat Taib, told Malaysiakini that he hoped his re-entry into Umno would have some impact.

However, Muhammad, who is overseas, did not respond to questions on how his return to Umno was formulated.

Malaysiakini understands that Muhammad had been unhappy in PKR, which had mostly used him for ceramah purposes.

He had vented his frustration during his trip to perform the haj in Mecca between July and August.

Coincidentally, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar and Lembaga Tabung Haji chairperson Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim were also on the trip, according to a source close with Selangor Umno.

The source said it was during this time the two Umno supreme council members convinced Muhammad to return to Umno.

Noh and Abdul Azeez later met Najib for permission to bring Muhammad back to Umno.

Malaysiakini has reached out to Noh and Abdul Azeez but had yet to receive a reply.

Najib's anti-climatic announcement on Sunday had led to speculation that there was to have been a major announcement that had failed to materialise, leaving the prime minister to settle for Muhammad.

Amongst the speculations about the so-called real announcement was that state assemblypersons from Selangor would defect to BN.

However, the Umno-linked source dismissed this.

"The claim is illogical because the 14th general election is already near," he said.

"Parliament's term is expected to expire in June and the general election must be held two months from the time of dissolution for Peninsular Malaysia and three months for East Malaysia.