Sacked Annuar Musa a liability for Umno: Nazri Aziz

KUALA LUMPUR – Umno veteran Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has defended the party leadership’s decision to replace Tan Sri Annuar Musa as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general, saying he has become a liability for the party. 
 
The former minister said that Anuar, who is also Ketereh MP, had been conducting himself in a way that risked jeopardising the party leadership and irking grassroot members.
 
“Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi had received feedback from the grassroots, many of whom are dissatisfied with Annuar, who has been issuing statements in conflict with the leadership,” Nazri said. 
 
“He appears to be more open to attacking Umno than other parties. Annuar should have just done his work and not issued unnecessary statements; that was not his duty. 
 
“He has become a liability to Umno,” he told The Vibes today, stressing that the removal was not done based on mere whim and fancy. 
 
Annuar was removed as secretary-general of both BN and Muafakat Nasional (MN) on Tuesday and replaced by Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan, who holds the same position in Umno. 
 
Unimpressed by having to hear about the news through the media, Annuar had slammed the party’s top leadership by, among other things, claiming that his sacking went against BN’s constitution as it was done by Zahid at an Umno division leaders' meeting as party president, and not as BN chairman. 
 
He also accused the party of colluding with PKR president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP to oust the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government, and alleged that Zahid had ordered Umno not to formalise its MN coalition with PAS.
 
Nazri, who himself was removed as BN secretary-general in March 2019 after a stint lasting less than a year, said Annuar should just accept his fate and move forward to help the party ahead of the next general election. 
 
He also reminded the Federal Territories minister that the secretary-general’s position is only a temporary responsibility lent by the coalition, which can be taken back. 
 
“I was also sacked – what’s the big deal? Relax lah. We have to face it, but you don’t have to be angry. At the end of the day, the party is the most important,” said Nazri, who is also Padang Rengas MP. 
 
“The post is a responsibility given to us, it’s not something you want to be proud of. We must only carry out our duties,” he said. 
 
Nazri was replaced by Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as secretary-general after BN components MCA and MIC alleged that his appointment in September 2018 was not in accordance with the coalition’s constitution. 
 
This came after Nazri had hit out at MCA on multiple occasions and made remarks deemed insensitive to Umno’s non-Malay allies, which included calls for the closure of vernacular schools. – The Vibes, January 7, 2021