Its president SA Vigneswaran said the party was also not informed about Umno secretary-general Ahmad Maslan’s appointment to replace Annuar.

However, he thought the removal was legitimate as there was no requirement in the BN constitution that it cannot be done without consultation with the component parties.

“The removal of Tan Sri Annuar Musa is legitimate, but you cannot appoint anybody as a secretary-general unless it is done through BN’s supreme council (MT). You can sack but you cannot appoint, it can be only done by the MT,” he told Bernama.

In a separate statement, MCA expressed surprise over Annuar’s removal, saying BN component parties were not consulted or that the decision had been made by the coalition’s supreme council.

“In MCA’s view, any appointment to a post in BN must be done based on BN’s constitution and according to convention, should be tabled and a consensus reached in a BN MT meeting,” it said.