Annuar Musa sacked, Ahmad Maslan takes over as BN sec-gen

Umno veteran Annuar Musa has been sacked as Barisan Nasional (BN) secretary-general, MalaysiaNow has learnt.

His aide Faisal Ismail Aziz confirmed the matter to MalaysiaNow although Annuar himself has yet to be officially informed of the decision.

A source said he will be replaced by Ahmad Maslan.

Annuar, who recently defended the Umno Supreme Council’s decision to reject political cooperation with DAP and PKR’s Anwar Ibrahim, had said he was willing to be sacked from the party if there were those unhappy with his stance.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with party division leaders at PWTC in Kuala Lumpur, Ahmad said his appointment as BN secretary-general would take immediate effect.

However, he insisted that Annuar had been replaced, not sacked.

“By convention, the Umno secretary-general is also the BN secretary-general and I think this was among the reasons why (for the change). I have also been tasked with the post of Muafakat Nasional secretary-general,” he said.

“I want to stress that it is just a replacement. The president had earlier mentioned the same, and the words he used were ‘I am replacing him (Annuar)’.”

He did not comment when asked if he had been reassigned due to claims that Annuar no longer respected the party president and seemed to be leaning towards Bersatu.