Tawau PAS has apologised for the confusion which arose from the police report it lodged against the Christmas and New Year Eve festivals organised by the office of Tawau MP Christina Liew.

Its commissioner Mohamad Husain said the police report was made in response to complaints that Muslims had attended the festival held in Tawau on Dec 31, 2018, which contained "element of Christian evangelisation".

However, he said, PAS did not prevent anyone from organising any legitimate religious and cultural activities, Free Malaysia Today (FMT) quoted him as saying today.

“This situation was different from previous programmes,” Mohamad explained.

On Jan 1, Tawau PAS held a press conference to protest against the festival organised by Liew's office and other co-organisers.

In the press conference, Mohamad claimed to represent Warisan, PKR, Umno and several NGOs from both the Tawau and Kalabakan constituencies.

Tawau PAS also lodged a police report on the same day.

However, Daily Express reported today that Mohamad issued an apology to Warisan and PKR for including them in a joint memorandum to objecting the festival.

He said that was a technical mistake as the party issued the memorandum to the media without first informing those involved.

Liew, who is also Sabah deputy chief minister, yesterday denied the accusation that the festival was held for the purpose of proselytism.

“What are these people protesting? This is an annual event that we have been organising for the past 20 or 30 years without any problem. Suddenly we cannot do this anymore? Why?

“There were leaders from other parties, like Kalabakan MP Ma’mun Sulaiman, who was there. There were thousands of people of all races and religions, celebrating happily with us,” she was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.