PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim has denied that he was conferred the title of Huguan Siou, or paramount leader of the Kadazandusun community, during his visit to Sabah last Sunday.

"There was no announcement, no mention (that I am Huguan Siou) in the speech... except that Anwar was announced the candidate for prime minister," he told reporters this afternoon at a Chinese New Year open house organised by Batu PKR division at Kepong.

anwar ibrahim cny selangor open house 4 Several Kadazandusun organisations and Sabah political leaders have slammed Anwar after photographs of him wearing a sash bearing the name of Huguan Siou at a Sabah PKR event were published.

They said it was disrespectful to the native community.

The title was bestowed to current PBS president Joseph Pairin Kitingan 28 years ago, and he was declared as paramount leader for life.

Anwar joked that his only concern was whether there was a cross on the sash, referring to the famous Kadazan headgear that brought down opposition party Semangat 46 led by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah in the 1990 general election.

Two days before the polling day, the infamous photograph depicting Razaleigh, now Gua Musang MP, wearing a Kadazan headgear purportedly with the Christian cross, was highlighted by the media as the proof that Razaleigh had betrayed Malay and Islam.