FORMER Umno secretary-general Annuar Musa has quashed talks of him joining Bersatu, saying he is an Umno loyalist.

“I am a party man. If we are married to someone, we do not need the aspiration to marry many times. If we can’t even manage one, then we don’t need big ambitions.

“And about my loyalty to the party, the old members in Umno know who I am. As for the new members, they can think for themselves,” Annuar told Insight Talk.

Annuar, who is also Federal Territories minister, said he had stood with Umno even when they had numerous issues under past leaderships.

He said there was no reason for him then to leave the party just because he is friendly with Perikatan Nasional.

Umno’s Nazri Aziz had trained his guns on Annuar recently for seeming to be in support of PN, which is led by Bersatu.

Annuar had appeared to dispute a statement by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, who had said Umno should reexamine its partnership with PN, which heads the Gabungan Rakyat Sabah-led state government in Sabah.

“When I was with Dr Mahathir Mohamad, I was loyal to him. There was a constitutional crisis, there was a crisis with the palace, and there was a crisis with Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah… I followed Dr Mahathir then.

“But when Dr Mahathir left Umno, I still opted to stay with the party,” Annuar said.

Annuar was referring to the incident in 1987 when Tengku Razaleigh challenged Dr Mahathir for the Umno presidency.

Musa, who was then having a growing rift with Dr Mahathir, resigned as deputy prime minister, citing irreconcilable differences with the then prime minister.

The Barisan Nasional secretary-general said he chose Umno to be his political platform but said that does not make him a fanatical follower.

He said he holds a modest attitude towards most parties, adding he would even support the opposition if it was for something good.

Annuar, however, said this does not apply to DAP and he would reject anyone who supports them, pointing at opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

“We clash with DAP because of policy. Their policy and party constitution are different.

“So, we reject DAP or even Anwar who is sitting with DAP,” he said. – November 24, 2020.