Tony Abbott has stoked the smouldering tensions between himself and Malcolm Turnbull, demanding the former prime minister offer his vocal support to the Liberal Party candidate in Wentworth.
Mr Abbott said he would not be drawn into a war of words after Mr Turnbull called him a "miserable ghost" during a recent event in New York.
"I don't call people names ... I'm not going to engage in a slanging match," Mr Abbott told 2GB radio on Monday.
But Mr Abbott did have one piece of advice for his successor ahead of this Saturday's poll in his Sydney seat.
"The one thing I would love to see from Malcolm this week is a tweet endorsing Dave Sharma," he said.
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"I reckon he owes it to the party and to the people of Wentworth to give Dave Sharma a solid, clear, personal endorsement this week in particular."
He would not criticise Mr Turnbull for his Singapore-based son Alex encouraging Wentworth voters to support Labor.
"Let the son speak for himself, but it would be good to hear from Dad this week, it really would."
