KUALA LUMPUR, July 8 — Tan Sri Annuar Musa has urged his party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to explain the "true position” of the Umno supreme council meeting last night, alleging that Ahmad Zahid had read a statement which was readied much earlier, before the meeting.

Taking to Facebook, Annuar, who had a public fallout with Ahmad Zahid after the former’s sacking as Umno secretary-general, said that he was contacted by several supreme council members, who informed him that the statement made by the latter to the press was not reflective of their meeting outcome.

"Further checks showed that what was read to the media was a statement that was prepared much earlier, before the MKT meeting,” he said, using the abbreviation to refer to the council.

"If it’s true, then it is proven again that the supreme council was played out and this is very serious,” he said.

Annuar said that this morning when he checked the Umno division chiefs WhatsApp group, many lamented Ahmad Zahid’s statement and spoke of their confusion.

"There were also Umno division chiefs who are also MKT members, who confirmed that the president’s statement did not reflect the content and summary of the MKT meeting.

"Why is this happening repeatedly? Something else was discussed but something else was summarised,” he said.

According to Annuar, 25 supreme council members shared their views honestly and calmly but added that they made it clear there was no consensus.

He added that discussions did not revolve around Umno’s withdrawal of support for the Perikatan Nasional government and that no vote was made during the meeting.

"In other words, the Umno president must explain the true position. Quickly issue the true statement,” he said.

He said the truth of what transpired during the meeting will eventually be made public and warned that it would not bode well for Umno.

Ahmad Zahid declared Umno’s withdrawal of support for Muhyiddin who is from Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) in a midnight news conference online.

According to Ahmad Zahid, Umno’s supreme council is withdrawing support on account of the Bersatu leader’s purported failures in handling the Covid-19 health, economic, and political crises.

The Bagan Datuk MP urged Muhyiddin to act honourably and relinquish his post and allow the appointment of an interim prime minister to handle the current pandemic and subsequently advise the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to accede for a general election be called.

The supreme council meeting and Ahmad Zahid’s statement came on the heels of Muhyiddin’s surprise promotion of two Umno lawmakers, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, as deputy prime minister and senior minister respectively.