Umno supreme council member Nazri Aziz rebutted the claim, saying he himself was a staunch supporter of the UEC, even back when Muhyiddin Yassin was the education minister, yet no drastic action had been taken against him.
“I want to know, who discriminated against him (Annuar)? Was it the Cabinet?” he said outside the Dewan Rakyat today.
Yesterday, Sin Chew Daily quoted Annuar, who is the Umno information chief, as saying his suspension stemmed from his backing of the UEC.
The UEC is a standardised examination conducted by Chinese education group Dong Zong (United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia) in Chinese secondary schools in Malaysia. In the 1960s, such schools were privatised after choosing to retain Mandarin as the medium of instruction.
Annuar denied he was suspended in January over the use of funds from two Mara subsidiaries to sponsor the Kelantan football team while he was the state’s football association president.
“Many in Umno were not pleased about my support for the recognition of the UEC, especially my decision to have Universiti Kuala Lumpur accept the UEC as qualification for enrolment,” Annuar told the Chinese daily, referring to the UniKL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mara.
But fellow Umno supreme council member Ismail Sabri Yaakob disagreed and clarified that Annuar’s suspension stemmed from the controversial use of Mara subsidies and sponsorship of the Kelantan football team, the Red Warriors.
“I was made to understand that the internal auditors had questions about the sponsorship of the football team and (the investigation) had nothing to do with the UEC,” he told FMT, referring to the Mara probe into Annuar which began last month.
In January, Annuar was accused of using his influence as Mara chairman to persuade Pelaburan Mara Bhd and UniKL to sponsor the Red Warriors.
The revelation come to light during a spat between Annuar and Johor crown prince, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who questioned the use of “public funds” to “save” the Kelantan football team from a financial crisis.