Annuar Musa sacked as BN sec-gen. What's going on?

Tan Sri Annuar Musa has been sacked as Barisan Nasional secretary-general and replaced by Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.

The decision was announced by BN Chairman, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in a speech during a special meeting with the UMNO division heads at the World Trade Centre (WTC), Kuala Lumpur.

Annuar confirmed his dismissal, and said that he had been sacked as secretary-general of Muafakat Nasional (MN) as well. In a tweet, he called for calm.

Ahmad Maslan claimed that Annuar was not ‘sacked’, instead only being replaced, perhaps the difference only in semantics.

Recently, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announced that UMNO and BN will contest in all parliamentary and state seats they won in the last general election. He reiterated that UMNO and BN had never joined PN.

However, Annuar repeatedly said the distribution of seats for the 15th General Election (GE15) is open for discussion between BN and PN. He rebuked the actions of some parties who disputed the seat allocation.

Annuar is now seen to be siding with the PN coalition led by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu).

According to Ahmad Maslan, there are 147 UMNO head divisions who opposed the idea to cooperate with Bersatu.

As the relationship between UMNO and Bersatu gets more strained, there’s speculation that UMNO is considering cooperating with the opposition. The party, however, has maintained it will not work with the DAP.

Annuar has challenged his coalition to fire him over the difference of opinion and rejecting any form of political cooperation with DAP and PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Pasir Puteh UMNO Youth leader Muhammad Saifullah Ali had called for the sacking of Annuar, allegedly for not respecting the party’s president and acting as Bersatu’s spokesman.

Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Tajuddin Abdul Rahman said that Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub’s resignation as the chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) was an indication of UMNO’s dissatisfaction with Bersatu.

The newly-appointed UMNO Secretary-General, Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan gave the impression that any decision regarding UMNO leaders to leave the PN will be decided in the UMNO Supreme Working Council meeting tomorrow.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Khairy Jamaluddin said he is ready to resign from the government as he is bound by any decision of the UMNO Supreme Working Council.