KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman has invited former Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to join Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, urging the latter to abandon the far-right views growing within the Umno-PAS partnership.

The head of Bersatu’s Youth wing made the open invitation to Khairy on Twitter yesterday in response to a news report of the Umno leader expressing support for PPBM chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s suggestion that Malay politicians unite under his party.

"As Umno-PAS steer further to the right, it’s timely for Bersatu to position itself as the centrist party for the Malays,” he wrote on Twitter.

"I would like to invite Khairy to join Bersatu. Join the likes of Tun, [Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir and Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed]. Together, we can move Malaysia forward.”

At the Johor Bersatu Aidilfitri Open House on Friday, Dr Mahathir invited all Malay political parties including Umno to join Bersatu to consolidate the community’s political power.

Dr Mahathir asserted that the number of rival Malay political parties have resulted in the cannibalisation of the Malay community’s electoral support.

Yesterday, Khairy reportedly called for the community to view Dr Mahathir’s remarks positively, saying the latter’s intentions were noble.