In a statement, the Parti Pesaka Bumiputera (PBB) candidate said he was merely telling Muslims in the seminar he was speaking at to be thankful because others were willing to support and trust Muslims to be leaders. He also explained that this was because Muslims were “fair to others” and had been governing the country together with others well.
Hence, he called on participants to continue supporting state CM Adenan Satem in his leadership of the state.
Annuar accused the news portal of spinning his words in such a manner that it made him sound like a racist.
“In actual fact I was giving advice specifically to Muslims to support Adenan, whose acceptance rating from all races is reported to have reached an 81% high.
“Being Muslims we should be grateful that we are able to blend well with other races. Thus this harmony and tolerance needs to be maintained,” he said.
He also said that despite clarifying his statement with the reporter who wrote the story, “she seem to prefer to be deaf.”
“And I told her that only racists see others as racist. As a result what was explained was not published,” he added.
In his speech, Annuar was heard telling the audience: “I call on the Muslim community, especially in Sibu, that we must be aware that despite not being the majority, we are given the opportunity to lead Sarawak. Let us not let go of this opportunity…just like that.”
The portal’s article on his speech, titled “Vote BN to keep Muslim CM, S’wak Muslims told”, resulted in Annuar receiving intense backlash from many quarters, with many of them calling him a racist.