Annuar Musa has denied that he was being mischievous in inviting Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Bersatu to return to Umno.

“With 13 out of 124 (parliament) seats, PM (Mahathir) should not put his lifeline with 'enemies'…,” he tweeted.

The Umno secretary-general was referring to the federal seats held by Pakatan Harapan parties. Bersatu, whose chairperson is Mahathir, has 13, the least number of seats compared to PKR, DAP.

Annuar was responding to Mahathir's son and Bersatu deputy president Mukhriz, who had described the Umno leader's invitation as “mischievous”.

However, the Ketereh MP said politics is not about being mischievous.

On Wednesday, Annuar had invited Mahathir to return to Umno, which the latter had led for more than two decades.

This was after Mahathir offered Umno members the chance to join Bersatu.

“Umno should be the one to counteroffer, which is to invite Mahathir and Bersatu members to join Umno. Many Umno members including myself love and respect Mahathir.

“InsyaAllah, Umno will not die. What is broken we will fix together,” Annuar had said.