UPDATED 6PM | A Sarawak DAP Youth leader has withdrawn his statement that demanded the resignation of the Education Minister Maszlee Malik.

In a media statement this afternoon, the wing's publicity secretary Abdul Aziz Isa has urged Maszlee to relinquish his post with immediate effect.

However, about three hours later, he decided to withdraw his statement.

“I wish to withdraw my statement calling for Maszlee to resign. My apologies.”

However, he did not explain the reason for the retraction.

In the earlier statement, Abdul Aziz did not mince words in describing the Bersatu lawmaker as a “huge disappointment” and “embarrassment”.

Referring to the minister's remark that religious teachers make Sabah and Sarawak their "medan dakwah" (proselytisation area), Abdul Aziz said this was misconstrued to mean promoting Islam to non-Muslims because of Maszlee's failure to choose his words wisely.

“As a result, this led to heavy criticism, especially from those in Sabah and Sarawak, who felt that his statement was a form of Islamisation,” he added.

Following the criticism, Maszlee clarified that he had meant "dakwah" in the universal sense of inviting people towards doing good deeds.