ANNUAR Musa wants his removal as the Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general to be done at the right forum, which is the BN supreme council.

The Ketereh MP said the decision to appoint or sack him should not come from Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in his capacity as Umno president but BN chairman.

“I accept the decision of Zahid to sack me as the BN secretary-general and I thank the opportunity given to me to serve this position in the coalition.

“However, he (Zahid) should have sacked me in a meeting held among BN parties because any appointments or removal should have the consensus of the other component parties.

“Yes, Zahid, the Umno president is the Chairman of BN so, I suggest (he) sack me again when a BN meeting is held,” Annuar Musa, who is the Federal Territories Minister, told reporters at a press conference in Putrajaya today.

Yesterday, it was reported that BN sacked Annuar Musa as secretary-general, after the leadership found his views not in sync with the coalition’s lynchpin party, Umno, said sources.

Zahid announced the decision yesterday at the gathering of Umno division heads.

In an immediate reaction, BN component party MCA said it was not consulted on Annuar’s removal.

The party’s leadership was neither notified or consulted and had to find out via media reports, it said in a statement.

“The MCA Supreme council only knew about this through media reports and it has never been negotiated among the component parties in BN, nor has it been decided by the BN Supreme Council.

“So far, MCA has not been able to confirm the legitimacy of the news of the removal of Annuar Musa as BN secretary-general.”

MCA’s statement follows news of Annuar’s removal.

Annuar had held the secretary-general post from March 16 last year, and said that he has not received any official letter on his termination.

He said he only got to know about his termination from news reports at around 12.36pm yesterday.

However, he said that newly minted sec-gen Ahmad Maslan had texted him explaining the situation.

“He (Ahmad Maslan) said that he didn’t ask or lobby for the position.

“Well, he doesn’t need to explain this to me and I, too, don’t want to make this issue bigger,” he said.

When asked if he would quit Umno because of this issue, Annuar said that there is no reason for him to leave the party.

He said his commitments towards the party have increased since his sacking.

“Because of this sacking, my commitments have increased.

“As a (former) secretary-general, I was tied to the party’s decision but now I’m free to voice my opinions and I can be more active,” he said. – January 6, 2021.