PETALING JAYA: Tan Sri Annuar Musa’s two-year-long feud with party president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has come to an ugly end – the Ketereh Umno division head has been sacked from the party.
The former Communications and Multimedia Minister was sacked by the Umno supreme council, along with Arau Wanita chief Datin Seri Shamsiah Md Yassin and Maran Wanita chief Datin Seri Fatimah Kassim.
In response to the sacking, Annuar wrote in a Facebook post that he dreamt the house that he was staying in all this while was burning.
“Many of the residents have run away, leaving the house burning. I love this house. I tried to douse the flames.
“When the fire was at its peak and many had ran away, I was suddenly pulled out of the burning house. Now, I can only watch it from afar,” he wrote.
Both the women who were sacked are wives of dropped Umno candidates.
Shamsiah is the wife of Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, who was not fielded by Umno as a candidate for the general election but joined Perikatan Nasional to help that party sweep to power in Perlis.
Fatimah is the wife of Maran MP Datuk Seri Ismail Abd Muttalib, a former deputy housing and local government minister who was also dropped as an Umno candidate but retained the seat on a Perikatan ticket.
Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan confirmed the sackings.
Another source said Annuar was deemed to have openly gone against the party leadership too many times.
“Yes, Annuar has been sacked. He was warned again and again for lambasting top Umno leaders in public. Yet, he kept doing it. We need leaders who will work as a team,” said the source.
On Thursday, the Umno supreme council – chaired by Ahmad Zahid – was reported to have sacked a division chief and two division Wanita chiefs from Perlis and Pahang for campaigning against the party during GE15.
Umno supreme council member Datuk Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the trio were also said to have smeared the party when campaigning against it.
Annuar had been publicly butting heads with Ahmad Zahid for the past couple of years, especially after the president had allegedly signed a letter stating his support for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be prime minister back in 2020.
In retaliation, Ahmad Zahid dropped Annuar as Ketereh’s parliamentary candidate. Annuar had criticised the decision but made a U-turn to support his Umno replacement.