Thanking Muhyiddin for the invitation, Khairy said he did not want to make the decision for his political comeback just because elections in six states are around the corner.
“I hope those who made the offer (to join Bersatu) could give me some time to think about it. Thanks to Muhyiddin Yassin who made the offer publicly,” he said in an episode of his podcast, Keluar Sekejap.
On Wednesday, Muhyiddin publicly offered Khairy a seat on the Bersatu Supreme Council as he believed Khairy could contribute to the party.
Khairy, former MP for Rembau and former minister for health, was expelled from Umno in January for allegedly acting against the party’s interests.
Khairy said he did not want a decision on any potential political comeback to be based on emotion or revenge.
He said a chance to choose a new party was not a decision he would take lightly. When he did so, it would be based on his political aspirations.
“I do not want the decision to be influenced by emotion, to inflict revenge or to teach people a lesson,” Khairy said.
During the November 2022 general election, Khairy tried to position himself as an “Umno reformist”, claiming that the party had lost its way and must “go back to its roots”.
He said he wanted to make Umno a party that the Malays could be proud of again.
He narrowly lost the contest for the Sungai Buloh parliamentary seat, a Pakatan Harapan stronghold which was won by R Ramanan of PKR by 2,693 votes.
We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.
Stay current - Follow FMT on WhatsApp, Google news and Telegram