Following BN's thumping victory in Tanjung Piai last week, Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa has called on the opposition to be prepared for a more "brutal" counter-attack from Pakatan Harapan.

He said the terrible defeat in the by-election in Tanjung Piai a week ago did not mean that Harapan had died.

“Losing severely in Tanjung Piai does not mean they are dead. The opposition should be prepared for a more violent reaction through their second wave of counter-attacks.

“They are bringing the team together, restructuring (strategy) and counter-attacking, ”he said in a series of posts on Twitter.

The BN victory in Tanjung Piai saw the fourth defeat for Harapan in nine by-elections, having previously lost in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat and the Semenyih and Rantau state constituencies.

The victory was seen as the worst defeat ever by a ruling coalition, with the BN candidate from MCA Wee Jeck Seng smashing ersatu's Karmaine Sardini by 15,086 votes.

The defeat sparked calls for Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to resign and expedite the transfer of his premiership to Anwar Ibrahim, and Mahathir also resurrected talk of a cabinet reshuffle.

Annuar went on to assert that Muafakat Nasional alliance of Ummo and PAS had rejected the 'backdoor government' plot.

“Thus Umno and PAS and the idea of Muafakat Nasional will not accept the back door. We fight against each other, but with responsibility.

“We want a genuine reform, rejecting the evil of BN 1.0 and PH 1.0. The people's dreams are not being realised, "he said.

The Ketereh MP took aim at those who chased after rank and position with no respect for philosophy and struggle

Revving up the rhetoric, Annuar went on claim that Umno was rejecting a government that "was cruel and oppressed and deceived the people, followed liberalism, outlawed religion, compromised socialists and racists, and wanted to destroy the foundations (of the system)".