We won’t stoop to your level, lawyer tells Thomas off over ‘secret ambition’ to become AG

A senior lawyer has scoffed at a claim that he was eyeing the attorney-general’s post under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, saying others who were likewise named by Tommy Thomas as habouring such ambitions “would not stoop to the same level as him”.“Since 2013, by his own admission, he wanted to be the AG. Don’t put all of us in the same category,” Haniff Khatri Abdulla, a criminal lawyer whose clients include former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, told MalaysiaNow.“We are not dishonorable like he is. We do not fight for our own interest but for the nation,” he said, referring to a claim by Thomas in his book “My Story: Justice in the Wilderness” which gives his account of what transpired during PH’s 22 months in power.“This is the man who has admitted to having a desire in his small mind of becoming the AG. And now, he lumps others together claiming they too had a similar goal,” Haniff added.Haniff said while he had opposed Thomas’ appointment as attorney-general from the beginning, he had never wanted the job for himself.Instead, he said he had proposed four other names to Mahathir: former judges Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and Mohd Hishamudin Md Yunus, as well as senior counsel Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden and Salehuddin Saidin.“If I were so desperate for the job like Tommy, why would I propose these people of high calibre? I could have just asked Tun to appoint me on the first day itself as I was together with him, waiting outside the palace (for the swearing-in as PM) for almost 24 hours,” said Haniff.In his new book, written with the help of several politicians including DAP’s Liew Ching Tong and Syahredzan Johan, as well as former Bersih chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan and businessman Kalimullah Hassan of ECM Libra Group, Thomas admitted to having eyed the top legal post since 2013, during an election year which the opposition did not win.Thomas also claimed that two other senior members of the legal fraternity, Karpal Singh and Salleh Abas – both of whom were deceased at the time the book was published – had endorsed him for the post. He also said the matter had been kept a secret among his family members and close associates.Thomas was appointed to the post in 2018 following PH’s election victory and resigned some 20 months later after the collapse of the PH government in February last year.‘Three persons vying for AG’In his book, Thomas referred to a gathering of PH leaders which he attended at the Sheraton Hotel in Petaling Jaya on the night of the 2018 general election, when the coalition was on the brink of power.He named two legal personalities who were there, suggesting they too were eyeing the AG’s post.“We were shocked to see Gopal Sri Ram,” he said, referring to the former Federal Court judge who is currently leading the prosecution in the Najib Razak trials.“As was his wont, he immediately surrounded himself with Tun Dr Mahathir, and the other leaders of Pakatan.”He then claimed that Haniff and another lawyer close to Muhyiddin Yassin also wanted to be the AG, adding that Haniff did not stand a chance as Mahathir, who was to be named prime minister, would not appoint his own lawyer to the post.“Further, Haniff was not acceptable to any of the other coalition partners. There were rumours about Roslan Dahlan [sic] being pushed by Muhyiddin Yassin. None of us had realised that Sri Ram was interested,” wrote Tommy.When contacted, lawyer Rosli Dahlan said Thomas’ admission of striking a bargain with DAP and opposition leaders to be made the AG in 2013 was worrying.“That brings into question his decision to discontinue the prosecution in the LTTE cases and the corruption cases on Lim Guan Eng,” Rosli saidHe was referring to Thomas’ decision to drop terrorism charges against DAP members accused of supporting Sri Lanka’s Tamil militants, as well as the decision to acquit the DAP secretary-general of a corruption charge.“Just as Thomas pontificates about accountability, he must be brought to account not only for his indiscretion but also for breaching the various provisions of the law on government, state and client secrecy and privilege,” Rosli added.‘Yes, I am not popular’Haniff meanwhile agreed with Thomas’ view about his standing with politicians.“DAP does not like me, many in Bersatu also do not like me. I am not naive. People don’t like me because I am strict with the constitution and the law.”He gave two reasons why he felt Thomas was not qualified for the AG’s job.He said Thomas had never once handled criminal cases.“That is why he himself appointed Sri Ram and V Sithambaran to lead the prosecution in the SRC and 1MDB trials,” said Haniff, adding that Thomas’ inability to converse in the national language was also a concern.


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Continuous heavy rain warning issued for four states

MetMalaysia today issued a severe-level continuous heavy rain warning for two areas in Pahang and Johor, and an alert-level heavy rain warning for Kelantan and Terengganu, to remain in force until tomorrow.
Continuous heavy rain at a severe level is expected to occur over Rompin in Pahang and Mersing in Johor.
Alert-level heavy rain meanwhile is expected to occur over the states of Kelantan and Terengganu as a whole; Kuantan and Pekan in Pahang; as well as Segamat, Kluang, Kulai, Kota Tinggi and Johor Bahru in Johor.


Suspect in MACC case dies at Putrajaya hospital

A suspect believed to have been involved in a money laundering case related to illegal mining in Pahang died while receiving treatment at a hospital in Putrajaya yesterday.
The suspect’s death was confirmed by Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Azam Baki.
"The MACC officer involved in the investigation of the case will give a statement to the investigating officer from the police.
"MACC has also submitted all CCTV recordings to assist police investigations," he said when contacted by Bernama last night.
MACC yesterday detained three individuals believed to be involved in illegal mining and money laundering involving RM1.8 million in Raub, Pahang.
The three suspects, aged 40 to 60, comprising the mining operator and civil servants, were detained at 6.30pm in Bentong, Pahang.


China stuns West with hypersonic missile test

A Chinese hypersonic test flight involving a high speed missile launch points to a major breakthrough, but Beijing’s capacity to deploy the advanced technology in combat is still doubtful, experts said.The American defence establishment has been rattled by the discovery that a Chinese hypersonic glider around-the-earth test flight in July culminated in the firing of a missile in mid-flight at more than five times the speed of sound over the South China Sea, media reports said at the weekend.Top powers the US, Russia and China have all been experimenting with so-called hypersonic glide vehicles – defined as reaching speeds of at least Mach 5 – but up to now none had displayed comparable mastery of a mid-flight missile launch.Weapons travelling at hypersonic speed would enable an attacking military to overcome defence installations through sheer speed and unparalleled manoeuvrability, and allow a country under assault to pick off incoming missiles more easily.“The Chinese appear to have mastered the thermic and aerodynamic shock effects linked to hypersonic speed,” said Joseph Henrotin, defence strategy researcher and chief editor of DSI, a French military review.This, he told AFP, required “huge computing capacity”.US defence officials were caught off-guard by the Chinese display, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the intelligence.Details of Beijing’s test are still sketchy, with analysts wondering whether the missile hit or missed its target, or whether there even was a target.‘Great leap forward’Either way, the demonstration showed that China has made surprising advances in a technology that many experts had placed much further in the future.“The recent tests constitute a great leap forward for China in terms of technology,” said Niklas Swanstrom, China expert and director of the Institute for Security and Development in Stockholm.But, he told AFP, “even if they have the technology, it is much less clear if they have the ability to deploy them and to make effective use of them in combat operations”.And, as important as superfast weaponry may become in the future, any edge China may have gained over the US in that area is nowhere near changing the overall military balance.“We still have to realise that the US is far ahead of China in terms of overall military technology,” Swanstrom said.China makes no secret of having developed at least one aerodynamic wind tunnel capable of conducting tests for hypersonic weapons and equipment.The state-owned Aviation Industry Corp of China (Avic) confirmed this month that a Mach 8 wind tunnel called FL-64 had been completed and now had “testing capability”, including “weapon separation and delivery”.Meanwhile Chinese scientists are building the JF-22 wind tunnel which can simulate flight at 30 times the speed of sound, state broadcaster CCTV reported in August.Chinese Academy of Sciences researcher Jiang Zonglin told CCTV the tunnel could be used to develop aircraft that could “reach any place on earth within one or two hours”.‘Playing up the Chinese threat’The advances in China’s spacecraft development make the reports of the missile launch “credible”, said James Char, an expert on the Chinese military at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University.But it was also possible that US defence officials were exaggerating the real danger from the missile display in a bid to secure more money for their own weaponry.“The US military leadership has been playing up the Chinese military threat in recent years, so this may well be another example of its officials trying to seek a bigger defence budget going forward,” he said.He noted that the US administration had requested a bigger budgetary increase for Space Force next year, 13.1%, than for any of the other four branches of the military.The US is developing its own hypersonic glider under the ARRW program, but that system’s first real-life test failed in April.Russia meanwhile recently launched a hypersonic missile, called Zircon, from a submarine and deployed a hypersonic, nuclear-capable ballistic system in 2019, called Avangard.


Oil giant Shell turning to hydrogen, biofuels in new climate-friendly drive

Royal Dutch Shell is betting on rapid growth in hydrogen and biofuels as it shifts away from oil, rather than joining rivals in a scramble for renewable power assets, company sources have told Reuters.Shell and its European and US rivals are all seeking new business models to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels.They also need to appeal to investors concerned about the long-term outlook for an industry under intense pressure to slash greenhouse gas emissions.Shell will present its strategy on Feb 11, and unlike Fance’s Total and the UK’s BP, the company will focus more on becoming an intermediary between clean power producers and customers than investing billions in renewable projects, the sources said.The hydrocarbons giant will, however, keep its overall oil and gas output largely stable for the next decade to help fund its energy transition, though gas is set to become a bigger part of the mix, the sources told Reuters.BP, meanwhile, plans to slash its oil output by 40% by 2030 and has swept aside its core oil and gas exploration team to focus on renewables.Shell plans to boost its consumer base by expanding its network of electric vehicle charging points through its 45,000 petrol stations worldwide, far more than its European rivals.The Anglo-Dutch power giant also wants to ramp up its production of biofuel made from plants and waste as an alternative source of energy for transportation, the sources said.Hydrogen, and so-called green hydrogen which is made solely with renewable power, comes with high costs and infrastructure challenges though Shell is already investing. The company is betting on future growth in hydrogen, the sources said. While still a niche market, hydrogen has attracted huge interest in recent months as a clean alternative to natural gas for heavy industry and transportation.The US state of California, for example, is backing the rollout of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to help achieve its climate goals while countries such South Korea and Japan are also betting heavily on hydrogen as an alternative fuel.Like Shell, rivals including BP, Total, Italy’s Eni and Spain’s Repsol also plan to expand in hydrogen and biofuels markets, as well as add electric vehicle charging points to generate new revenue away from oil.However, Shell won’t chase the same ambitious targets some of its European rivals have for adding wind and solar generation capacity and will prioritise selling electricity instead, the sources said.


Govt dangling up to RM37,000 a month in bid to attract medical specialists

The health ministry is seeking to attract medical specialists to contribute to the country’s healthcare system including through the offer of up to RM37,000 a month for those in higher positions.Those in Grade UD53, UD54, UD55 and UD56 can also earn up to RM21,000 a month in wages and allowances, Deputy Health Minister Dr Noor Azmi Ghazali said in the Dewan Rakyat today.He said this was among the ministry’s initiatives to attract and retain existing specialists working with the government.“The ministry has also considered promoting medical specialists to Grade UD54 in nine years’ time,” he said.“We also have added on methods of promoting and introduced Grade UD56 in January 2017 as well as the add-on emolument of as much as RM2,000.”In terms of retirement meanwhile, he said medical specialists would be offered a package where benefits are given in both monetary and non-monetary methods.In September, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the country was in need of 28,000 medical specialists by 2030.Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, he said the current shortage in medical specialists had resulted in longer waiting periods for those seeking treatment by such doctors.He also spoke of better offers in the private sector which he said were among the reasons for medical specialists leaving the government service.He said a special committee was formed on Aug 20 among others to look into ways to extend benefits for contract medical and healthcare workers, giving the example of Putrajaya’s sponsorship programme for those who wished to continue their education.


Amazon's cloud unit to invest US$6 billion in Malaysia by 2037

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing division of Amazon.com Inc, said on Wednesday it plans to invest US$6 billion (RM25.5 billion) in Malaysia over the next 14 years to strengthen its cloud services infrastructure in the country.
This marks the company's latest move in its plan to build AWS infrastructure regions across Southeast Asia.
The infrastructure hub will enable customers in the region to store data securely, the subsidiary said in a statement.
AWS' cloud platform offers more than 200 services, including storage, robotics and artificial intelligence.
Last year, AWS announced a US$5 billion investment in Thailand.


Original Apple computer built by Jobs and Wozniak sells for US$400,000

An original Apple computer, hand-built by company founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak 45 years ago, sold for US$400,000 at auction in the US on Tuesday.The functioning Apple-1, the great-great-grandfather of today’s sleek chrome-and-glass Macbooks, had been expected to fetch up to US$600,000 when it went under the hammer in California.The so-called “Chaffey College” Apple-1 is one of only 200 made by Jobs and Wozniak at the very start of the company’s odyssey from garage start-up to megalith worth US$2 trillion.What makes it even rarer is the fact the computer is encased in koa wood – a richly patinated wood native to Hawaii. Only a handful of the original 200 were made in this way.Jobs and Wozniak mostly sold Apple-1s as component parts. One computer shop that took a delivery of around 50 units decided to encase some of them in wood, the auction house said.“This is kind of the holy grail for vintage electronics and computer tech collectors,” Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen told the Los Angeles Times ahead of the bidding. “That really makes it exciting for a lot of people.”John Moran Auctioneers said the device, which was sold with a 1986 Panasonic video monitor, has only ever had two owners.“It was originally purchased by an electronics professor at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California, who then sold it to his student in 1977,” a listing on the auction house’s website said.The Los Angeles Times reported the student – who has not been named – paid just US$650 for it at the time.While the US$400,000 hammer price represents a healthy return on investment for that former student, it is a long way short of the record for such a device.A working Apple-1 that came to the market in 2014 was sold by Bonhams for more than US$900,000.“A lot of people just want to know what kind of a person collects Apple-1 computers and it’s not just people in the tech industry,” Cohen said.Apple raced to success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but foundered after the departure of Jobs and Wozniak.The company was reinvigorated in the late 1990s, and Jobs was brought back into the fold as the chief executive.He oversaw the launch of the iPod, and later the world-changing iPhone, before his death in 2011.


Prasarana vows solution for disruptions to Kelana Jaya LRT line

Prasarana Malaysia Bhd says it will find an immediate solution to the problems related to the automatic train control (ATC) system on the Kelana Jaya LRT Line which caused disruptions to service this week.
Prasarana Group CEO Mohd Azharuddin Mat Sah said they had yet to determine the root cause of the ATC problem although they hoped that the expected arrival of a team from original equipment manufacturer Thales Group from Toronto, Canada, and Dubai, tomorrow would help them resolve the issue.
Azharuddin, in apologising to all parties, especially the commuters, for the inconvenience caused, said they were doing everything possible to solve the problem.
"Why (stop the services for) seven days? We are trying to find a solution but we cannot determine the root cause and are awaiting the experts from Canada… we need more time to assess what is the problem, find the root cause and test our trains in a sustainable manner.
"They will help us find a solution regarding the signal and communication between the trains and the vehicle control centre. This is an important matter so that we know the train’s location for the safety of the commuters… (it) is our most important priority," he told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur today.
The LRT service between the Kelana Jaya and Ampang Park stations has been suspended for seven days from today for passenger safety reasons.
Azharuddin said that before service resumes on Nov 16, "we want to make sure we are able to run the trains safely and permanently".
"We don’t want to start operating in the morning and then stop in the evening," he said. Asked about long-term solutions to the problem, he said Prasarana would change the ATC system now that it has received approval from its board of directors to upgrade it.
"The problem this time is the system and software. The problem we faced with the trains (previously) involved brake clippers but that is another issue. The Kelana Jaya line has been operating for nearly 25 years… the parts need to be replaced. It’s about time," he said.
Meanwhile, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd will provide up to 85 buses on five routes as an alternative bus service due to the service disruptions, with an expected frequency of around 15 to 20 minutes per bus.


Hong Kong politicians arrested for stinky protest over China anthem law

Police in Hong Kong say they arrested three politicians on Wednesday over incidents earlier in the year in which foul-smelling liquid was thrown in the city’s legislature, Reuters reports.The arrests come after Hong Kong’s opposition resigned last week in protest against the dismissal of four colleagues in what they see as another push by Beijing to clamp down on democracy in the city.In May, Ted Hui dropped a rotten plant in the middle of a meeting. Then in June, Eddie Chu and Ray Chan splashed rancid liquid as guards grappled with them during a debate over a controversial bill to criminalise disrespect of China’s national anthem.Opposition members have tried to resist what many people in the former British colony see as Beijing’s whittling away of freedoms, despite its promise of a high degree of autonomy under a “one country, two systems” formula, promised when it returned to China in 1997.China denies curbing rights and freedoms in the global financial hub, but authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing moved swiftly to quash dissent after protests erupted last year and engulfed the city.Earlier this month, seven pro-democracy politicians – including Chu and Chan – were arrested over another chaotic legislative meeting in May.Al Jazeera commented, “The arrests are part of a wider clampdown by Beijing and Hong Kong to gag any dissent after last year’s protests. China is trying to enforce loyalty to the motherland.”The BBC says that as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, international unease is growing. The Five Eyes group, consisting of UK, US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, has accused China of a concerted campaign to silence critical voices in Hong Kong in breach of its international obligations.


India passes 300,000 Covid-19 deaths

India said Monday it had passed more than 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus pandemic, the third country after the US and Brazil to hit that figure as a huge wave of infections overwhelms the healthcare system.The South Asian nation’s toll now stands at 303,720 after adding 50,000 deaths in just under two weeks, as the total number of infections rose above 26.7 million, health ministry data showed.India has been hitting record single-day rises in infections and fatalities in recent weeks amid the brutal surge.It reported 4,454 Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, the second-highest daily toll since reaching a record 4,529 on Wednesday.Many experts believe the real number is much higher, particularly as the disease spreads beyond major cities into rural areas where the majority of the 1.3 billion population lives and where health facilities and record-keeping is poor.The wave has overwhelmed not just hospitals with patients, and led to a severe shortage of oxygen and critical drugs.Harrowing images of long queues for funerals and makeshift pyres have also emerged from crematoriums and cemeteries.Bodies of suspected Covid-19 victims have meanwhile been seen floating down the holy Ganges river or buried in shallow graves.


Anwar-Zahid phone tap an invasion of privacy, says PKR’s Maria

Petaling Jaya MP Maria Chin Abdullah says the leaked phone call between Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim is an invasion of privacy which should be immediately investigated by authorities.“This is a total breach and violation of privacy,” she said on the conversation held in the wake of the Umno general assembly and revealed in an audio clip earlier this month.In the four-minute clip, Anwar is heard congratulating and giving instructions to Zahid in the aftermath of the assembly which accepted Zahid’s proposal to cut ties with the Perikatan Nasional government.Zahid in return thanked Anwar for his moral support.The clip sparked denials from both Anwar and Zahid who said they would send their officers to lodge police reports over the issue.Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador however said that both leaders would be called up as part of an investigation into the recording.Maria said instead of focusing on the authenticity of the clip, authorities should look into who had tapped the phone conversation.“Phone tapping implies to me the clandestine listening or recording or wire-tapping of a communication through the phone with the intention of getting information about the activities of others,” she told MalaysiaNow, adding that this could be done in order to defame those involved.“To me, it is illegal and can lead to prosecution for breach of privacy,” she added.She said the leaked clip also violates a person’s right to live with dignity and respect, adding that everyone should have the right to be protected against intentional intrusions into their privacy.“There may be circumstances for phone tapping which can only be done in an authorised manner with permission from the government or agencies concerned if it is in relation to national security, for example during wartime.“I certainly hope this will be investigated and that the person or persons who committed the act of phone tapping will be brought to justice,” she said.


US reassures livid France after Australia scraps submarine deal

The US on Thursday struggled to contain the fallout after France furiously protested Australia’s scrapping of a major arms deal in favour of US nuclear submarines.President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled a new three-way alliance among the United States, Australia and Britain that features the submarines – a key asset to challenge an increasingly assertive China in the decades to come.China voiced anger – as did France, which called off a Washington gala to celebrate America’s oldest alliance and accused Biden, in whom it placed high hopes, of being no different than his “America First” predecessor Donald Trump.Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he was “very angry” over the loss of what he once called “the contract of the century,” which was worth A$50 billion (US$36.5 billion) when signed in 2016.“This unilateral, sudden and unforeseeable decision very much recalls what Trump would do,” Le Drian told France Info radio.On Australia, he said, “It’s really a stab in the back. We had established a relationship of trust with Australia. This trust has been betrayed.”Meeting in Washington with his Australian counterpart, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a fluent French speaker who had prioritised building ties with Europe, said he considered France “a vital partner” and saw no “regional divide” between Atlantic and Pacific allies.“We want to find every opportunity now to deepen transatlantic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and around the world,” Blinken told reporters.He said that the US has been in contact with France over “the last 24-48 hours” to discuss the row.A French embassy spokesman, however, said that contact came only after news had begun to leak in the press.The embassy said it was scaling back commemorations Friday of France’s role in a decisive American Revolution naval battle, with a gala at the ambassador’s residence canceled.Australian choiceDespite the French anger, the submarine contract had been proving increasingly contentious in Australia in part due to cost overruns.Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton, speaking in Washington, said that the country’s existing submarines would only provide an edge into the 2040s and that military chiefs recommended switching to nuclear-powered versions.“In the end the decision that we have made is based on what is in the best interest of our national security,” Dutton said, calling France’s offer “not superior” to the nuclear submarines operated by the US and Britain.Australia will become only the second nation after Britain to access US nuclear technology for the submarines.Dutton said it was also open to increasing rotations of US troops. Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier said that Australia would acquire long-range US Tomahawk cruise missiles.Australia has come under intense diplomatic and commercial pressure from China, the key market for its agricultural and mineral exports, over its close alliance with the US.China accused the US of setting off an arms race. At the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, China’s envoy Wang Qun called the three-way move a “sheer act of nuclear proliferation,” according to state news agency Xinhua.Blinken vowed solidarity with Australia, saying, “Beijing has seen over the past months that Australia will not back down and the threats of economic retaliation and pressure simply will not work.”Eye on ChinaIn another move seen as showing a united front against China, Morrison will travel next week to Washington for the first in-person four-way “Quad” summit with US, Japanese and Indian leaders.Biden has identified the rise of China’s authoritarian government as the top US challenge of the 21st century and reoriented US foreign policy around it.Last month he controversially withdrew the remaining troops from Afghanistan after 20 years, calling the war a distraction from the bigger picture.But Le Drian called the US move a “huge breach of trust” at a time when France was working with Washington on coordinating Asia policy.France, like the US, is a Pacific power with the overseas territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia where some 7,000 troops are based.French Defence Minister Florence Parly said that Australia’s about-face demonstrated the growing need for Europeans to bolster their own “strategic autonomy.”“In terms of geopolitics and international relations, it’s serious,” she told RFI radio.


Putrajaya in talks with all parties to ensure budget passed

The Perikatan Nasional (PN) government has been in talks with parties from both sides of the divide to ensure that the 2021 budget is passed, ahead of MPs’ vote on the bill in the Dewan Rakyat on Nov 26, MalaysiaNow has learnt.This comes amid speculation that several MPs from Umno who are facing corruption charges may turn their backs on PN by voting down the budget.But a source familiar with the talks said Umno reaffirmed its support for the budget after its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi came under pressure from party leaders over his leaning towards PKR chief Anwar Ibrahim.MalaysiaNow earlier revealed the contents of a letter to the palace by Zahid and his former boss Najib Razak, expressing support for Anwar to replace Muhyiddin Yassin as prime minister.Meanwhile, it is understood that MPs from Umno and PAS reached an agreement to support the budget bill following a meeting between party leaders on Tuesday.There have also been talks with Warisan and Pejuang, the two other opposition blocs outside of Pakistan Harapan.“We are positive that the 2021 budget will be approved and that all parties can focus on the war against Covid-19,” said a source from PAS.Earlier this week, Barisan Nasional secretary-general Annuar Musa proposed what he called a “grand coalition” to unite political affiliations beyond the three Malay-based parties of Umno, Bersatu and PAS.There have been fears that the budget could be defeated, causing the collapse of the government and triggering pandemic-season snap polls which health authorities have warned against.“We are positive that the 2021 budget will be approved and that all parties can focus on the war against Covid-19.”Yesterday, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong invoked his constitutional powers to declare a state of emergency in Batu Sapi, Sabah, effectively cancelling a by-election scheduled there on Dec 5.“With this declaration, all proceedings geared towards the Batu Sapi by-election will be discontinued in order to stop and prevent a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections, and a new date will be fixed for the by-election,” Istana Negara said in a statement.The deaths of Batu Sapi MP Liew Vui Keong of Warisan in October and Gerik MP Hasbullah Osman of Umno this week mean one less vote in the Dewan Rakyat for both the opposition and the ruling bloc.In July, a government motion to appoint a new Dewan Rakyat speaker scraped through with 111 votes against 109 who voted against. Deputy speaker Rashid Hasnon who presided over the session did not vote while one MP was absent.


Economy to recover this year on effective vaccine deployment, says World Bank

Malaysia’s economy is expected to return to positive growth this year along with other economies globally on the sustained progress in the vaccine rollouts that will boost consumption worldwide, the World Bank Group said.Its macroeconomics, trade and investment global practice lead economist, Richard Record, said the group expects the vaccine deployment to be mostly completed in 2021 in most economies, leading to strong recovery and demand as well as a boost in trade and commodity prices.“We are projecting a global growth of 4.0% this year. As for Malaysia, we project economic growth this year to range between 5.6 and 6.7%,” he said during the virtual 2021 Malaysia’s Economic and Strategic Outlook Forum (Mesof) titled: “The Post-Covid-19 New Normal – Where Do We Go From Here” today.Mesof is organised by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific and co-organised by the Malaysian International Chambers Of Commerce & Industry and Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur.Record noted that China is among the reasons for the growth recorded by Asian economies, Malaysia included.However, he cautioned that the downside risks to growth are the slow progress of the vaccine deployment and new containment that could lead to another movement control order, adding that consumption is the largest part of the Malaysian economy.“Risks to growth outlook include the unexpected delay in vaccine rollout, ineffective containment, elevated number of vulnerable households and domestic political uncertainty.“In the near-term, policies should focus on containing the outbreak and protecting the most vulnerable and on re-building fiscal buffers as economic conditions improve,” he added.Another panellist, Shan Saeed, chief economist of Juwai IQI Global, said the government continues to maintain macroeconomic stability which is moving faster and has surprised market participants.“The government is in total control of the economy and will continue to support when required by the economy. Amalgamation of fiscal and monetary policy levers hold the key for economic growth and Bank Negara Malaysia has a lot of room to manoeuvre in the monetary landscape,” he said.Shan added that the central bank would use tactical and strategic moves to maintain structural stability in the local currency.Shan also expects the economy to follow China’s dual-circulation strategy to support local businesses and to encourage aggregated demand at the macro level.Sharing some of his key statistics, he said Brent crude oil is expected to trade at between US$50 and US$70 per barrel, which could help support the ringgit trading at 3.67 to 4.10 per US dollar.On gross domestic product, he was more reserved, projecting the number at between 3.0 and 4.0% while the central bank is expected to keep the overnight policy rate at 1.0 to 1.75% in 2021.Meanwhile, Department of Statistics Malaysia chief statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the Malaysian Economic Outlook 2021 forecasts the country external trade to grow by 3.9%, with exports of goods expected to increase by 2.7% as a result of the recovery in global trade and supply chains, while imports are expected to rise by 5.3%, boosted by improvement in all types of imports.“Inflation is likely to make a comeback in 2021 after a deflationary trend this year as the Covid-19 pandemic suppressed demand for goods and services.“This is thanks to the early rollout of a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine and unleashing of pent-up demand in conjunction with supply shortages, which could result in an inflation comeback,” he said.Quoting the finance ministry, Uzir said inflation is projected at 2.5% versus -1.13% in 2020, signalling a stronger surge in consumer spending.On total labour force, he said this is projected to remain at 1.1z6 while the unemployment rate is projected to decrease to 3.5% in 2021 compared to an estimated 4.5% in 2020, as the country’s economy is expected to rebound firmly in 2021 after a dismal performance in 2020 due to the pandemic.


Ampang refugee school struggles to provide for Rohingya children

In the heart of Ampang, Selangor, a small school for Rohingya refugee children is struggling to stay afloat amid a slew of financial challenges which put it at risk of having to shut down.Its founder, Mohammad Sadek Ali Hossien, said the school has owed its landlord rental since November last year and can no longer afford to continue paying its staff.“We are fortunate in the sense that our landlord understands we depend entirely on donations,” he told MalaysiaNow.“We are still trying our best to pay the rent along with all of the other bills.”But times are hard and these days, the Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy cannot even afford to prepare meals for its students.The school is attended by 112 Rohingya children whose parents work in menial positions including as cleaners and garbage collectors.Rohingya children pose for a shot, grinning at the camera at the Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy.It has four teachers including two full-time instructors.At the moment, it needs a total of RM24,256 to cover rental arrears of RM750 a month and allowances of RM1,200 for its full-time staff in addition to utilities bills.A recent thunderstorm that hit the area several months ago also damaged some of its electrical appliances, and now a number of its fans and lights are no longer working.Sadek said the school could not afford to repair these.Meanwhile, there is only one toilet on the premises – hardly enough to cater to over 100 students.Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy was established in 2007, in a humble terraced house which the school eventually managed to expand with the help of donations in order to accommodate its students.One of its teachers, Anwar Shah Mohammad Siddiq, has been with the school for the past seven years.In addition to teaching the students English, he also ferries them to and from their homes.“It’s hard work,” he told MalaysiaNow.Nevertheless, he finds daily encouragement in his students and their enthusiasm to continue learning all that they can.Aside from English, the teachers also conduct classes for Bahasa Melayu, mathematics and religious studies.Older children sit through a religious studies class in a large room partitioned off into smaller sections.The upper storey of the house functions as the school library and the administrative office.Downstairs, makeshift classrooms are sectioned off with room dividers. To one side, there is also a small kitchen.Sadek, who previously worked with the United Nations in Malaysia, estimates that the school would need at least RM11,000 a month to continue operating.“We don’t always get the optimum amount,” he said. “Whatever we get, we divide for use according to priority.”Sadek believes there are some 20,000 Rohingya children in the country. In Ampang alone, there are 300, just over a third of whom are enrolled in Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy.The others attend missionary schools and centres run by NGOs.A group of children attend an English lesson in one of the classrooms at the Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy.Another staff member, Jani Alam, works part-time at Darul Eslah Rohingya Academy teaching Bahasa Melayu. The rest of the time, he works at a clinic in the area.“I worked at a car workshop for two months before that.“My father died in 2018. My mother asked me to work as my brother was already married and could no longer afford to continue paying for my education.“I don’t want my students to stop studying like I did,” he said, adding that he still harbours hope of continuing his studies at a higher level.For Sadek, the greatest concern is what will happen to these children once they finish school.“They have no documents and they are considered stateless. They aren’t allowed to further their studies here,” he said.Without an education, he fears that they will end up involved in criminal activities.His best hope is that they will become another of the school’s success stories.“Some of our students have gone on to study in other countries like the US, Canada and Australia,” he said.


220 MPs to individually state PM of choice in letter to Agong

MPs have been given until tomorrow to submit certified letters to Istana Negara stating their support for their choice of candidate for prime minister, following the resignation of Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.Dewan Rakyat speaker Azhar Harun said each letter must state clearly the support of that MP for their choice of prime minister, along with the candidate’s details and the official stamp of a witness, whether a lawyer, commissioner of oaths or notary public.“These letters of support must be submitted to the palace by 4pm on Aug 18, to be studied by Nazim Mohd Alim, the senior private secretary to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.“Any letter that does not fulfil the necessary criteria or is received late will not be taken into consideration,” Azhar said in a letter to MPs today.Muhyiddin resigned as prime minister yesterday, saying he had lost the support of the majority after the withdrawal of backing by 15 MPs from Umno led by their president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and former leader Najib Razak.He also cited the opposition’s rejection of a cross-party consensus in exchange for support during a vote of confidence slated for Sept 7.The Agong later consented for Muhyiddin to be made caretaker prime minister until the appointment of a new leader who, in the king’s judgment, commands the majority support of MPs in the Dewan Rakyat.Muhyiddin in a question-and-answer session with select media outlets yesterday did not rule out the possibility of returning to the top post.“Well, let’s see,” he said when asked if there was any possibility of a comeback.“Will I offer myself as a candidate? I don’t know yet,” he added.But he warned that there would still be instability if the numbers are the same.


China stages 'strike drills' around Taiwan, citing provocation

China's military said it had conducted "strike drills" in the sea and airspace around Taiwan on Sunday in response to what it said was provocation from the democratically-governed island and the US.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, said the drills showed Beijing was destroying regional peace and trying to cow Taiwan's people.
China staged war games around Taiwan in August following a visit to Taipei by then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi, and on Saturday it condemned the US for a new defence authorisation law that boosts military assistance for Taiwan.
In a brief statement, the Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army said it had carried out "joint combat readiness patrols and joint firepower strike drills" around Taiwan, though it did not specify the exact location.
"This is a resolute response to the current escalation of collusion and provocation from the US and Taiwan," it added, without giving details.
"Theatre forces will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Taiwan's defence ministry said China's actions "once again highlight its mentality of resolving differences by force and destroying regional peace and stability".
Taiwan-US cooperation contributes to the freedom, openness, peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific, and Taiwan will continue to boost its military in accordance with the enemy threat and its self-defence needs, the ministry said.
"The Chinese Communist's 'military intimidation' acts are obviously aimed at cowing our people and are not conducive to (China's) international image," it added.
Taiwan has complained of repeated Chinese military activity nearby over the last three years or so as Beijing seeks to pressure Taipei to accept Chinese sovereignty.
The US is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier, despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. US arms sales to Taiwan are a constant irritant in Beijing's relations with Washington.
Taiwan's military is dwarfed by that of its huge neighbour China. Its air force in particular has come under strain from having to repeatedly to see off Chinese incursions near the island.
The Chinese drills coincided with newly-elected city mayors and county chiefs in Taiwan taking up their positions following local elections on the island last month, in which the ruling Democratic Progressive Party was trounced.
China has never renounced using force to bring Taiwan under its control. Taiwan strongly disputes China's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's 23 million people can decide their future.


Desperate search for oxygen in Myanmar as latest Covid wave hits

Residents across Myanmar’s biggest city are defying a military curfew in a desperate search for oxygen to keep their loved ones breathing as a new coronavirus wave crashes over the coup-wracked country.The spike in cases is the latest blow to Myanmar, already suffering from a February coup and a bloody crackdown on dissent that has killed over 900 people and gutted the economy.Hundreds queued across Yangon as the sun rose Wednesday in the hope of refilling blue oxygen cylinders to take home to family members stricken with the virus.Some had brought chairs and prepared for a long wait.For others, it was too late.“My sister was suffering from Covid-19 for three days,” Than Zaw Win, told AFP as he left one of the queues in the city of some seven million.“In the first day, she was dizzy with low (blood) pressure… and she suffered a lot yesterday as she couldn’t breathe well.”“But while I was queueing to fill oxygen this morning, my niece called me to go back home as my sister had died.”Authorities logged over 7,000 new cases on Wednesday – compared with fewer than 50 per day in early May.Millions in Yangon and the second city of Mandalay have been ordered to stay home, but the toll continues to rise and volunteer teams are stepping in to remove the bodies of victims from their neighbourhoods.Ye Kyaw Moe, a sailor, said he slipped out at 3am – half an hour before the lifting of a military-imposed curfew – to get a place in the oxygen line.But when he arrived at a refill centre in Yangon there were already 14 others in front of him.“I haven’t slept for the whole night,” he told AFP.“I also had to be careful to avoid the soldiers as we are still under martial law.”The State Administration Council – as the junta calls itself – says there is no need for alarm.“Actually we have enough oxygen”, ran the headline in Tuesday’s Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-backed newspaper.“The people do not need to worry about it so much and should not spread the rumour,” it quoted junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as saying.But Than Zaw Win disagreed.“She had no other diseases… There is no way my sister would have died if we had enough oxygen,” he said.‘Through rain or sun’Swathes of Myanmar were put under partial lockdown last year but enforcement was often lax in the developing nation, where many had to choose between following regulations and feeding their families.The new wave comes with the country reeling from post-coup violence, and with many medical workers joining a nationwide civil disobedience campaign against the military.Infections are also seeping across Myanmar’s porous borders – last week a cluster in the border city of Ruili helped push China’s daily caseload to its highest in six months.Of the 57 cases reported nationwide, 12 were Myanmar nationals in Ruili, authorities said.Vaccine rollouts have also been slow – only around 1.75 million people have been vaccinated in the country of 54 million, according to the junta.“The junta lacks the resources, the capabilities, and the legitimacy to bring this crisis under control,” UN special rapporteur on Myanmar Tom Andrews said Wednesday.“The crisis… is particularly lethal because of the pervasive mistrust of the military junta.”The spike is also compounding difficulties for already overstretched humanitarian workers.“Moving staff to where they can do the most good, moving aid to communities who need it, all becomes more challenging,” a Red Cross spokesperson in the country told AFP.Myanmar is set to receive four million vaccine doses from China by the first week of August – too late for those fighting for breath.At another queue in Yangon, Aung Kyaw was hoping to get more oxygen for his wife.The last time he wanted to fill up his 40-litre cylinder, he was kept waiting for 24 hours, the 43-year-old said.Unlike others, he said he cannot afford to travel across the city looking for refill centres where the queues are shorter.“So I need to wait and queue here through rain or sun and the whole night too.”


Victims in LRT collision tell of harrowing experience

Passengers on a Kelana Jaya line LRT train yesterday faced a harrowing moment when it suddenly stopped before they were flung by the impact of its collision with another train.Passenger Afiq Luqman Mohd Baharudin, 27, said the impact of the collision saw everyone flung and falling to the floor.“The accident, which happened in the tunnel near KLCC, resulted in many passengers, both seated and standing, suffering injuries,” he said when contacted.Aliq Luqman said before the accident, the train had stopped for 15 minutes before moving again.“We had only moved for a few seconds when the crash happened and the impact was so strong that I suffered injuries to my head, left leg and chest,” he said.Afiq said he and the other passengers were helped out by a security team and rushed to the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital for further treatment.Meanwhile, some victims took to social media to share their personal experiences of the crash.Twitter user Lim Mahfudz was one of those who shared videos and photos of the incident, which he had recorded.Describing the incident as a tragedy, he tweeted that he was all right and thanked God for saving his life, adding that the whole thing felt like a nightmare.He said some passengers were also injured by glass panels which broke, while others were tossed around when the train suddenly hit its emergency brakes.


Singaporeans throng malls in pre-Christmas rush as restrictions set to ease

On the last weekend before Christmas, malls in Singapore were packed with crowds of pre-pandemic size as shoppers met friends and searched for last-minute gifts.The government is urging caution in the lead-up to phase three of Singapore’s reopening on Dec 28, which will allow larger gatherings of up to eight and expanded capacity limits in public places, and yet the masses still came.The Straits Times spoke to several customers jammed into shopping malls. Most of them admitted being uneasy over the lack of safe distancing in crowds larger than they had expected.“It’s very busy in the mall, it’s like there’s no pandemic,” said Muhammad Faiz at Bugis Junction. “There are so many people around, you could end up being too close to a carrier.”“It seems like people are behaving as if we are already in phase three,” added housewife Aisyah Daman.The government has warned against complacency over Christmas.Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has said, “This is absolutely not the time to relax or imagine that the problem has disappeared.”On Saturday afternoon, news was released that 13 people in stay-home quarantine in the Mandarin Orchard Singapore hotel might have become infected while they were there.Yet nearby malls remained packed. At Ion Orchard, queues of about 20 formed outside JD Sports and Muji.Gwee, a healthcare professional who declined to give her first name, left Daiso after only a few minutes, saying, “It was so crowded it felt like the air-con wasn’t on.”At 313 @ Somerset, Serene said, “There are so many reasons to be out: the sales, the festive mood, meeting friends. I’m not worried, and we’re going to phase three soon.”Outside Toys ‘R’ Us at VivoCity, Asikin Said told ST she usually shops online but as deliveries are badly affected by the Christmas rush, she brought her three-year-old son out to brave the crowds. But she said, “It’s quite bad. We’re going home right after this.”At VivoCity and Bugis Junction, regular announcements were played over the public address system, requesting people to keep a safe distance from each other.The government has promised it will work with retailers and deploy more safe-distancing personnel to better manage crowds.Jenny Khoo, Singapore head of asset operations for the Lendlease group managing malls like 313 and JEM, told ST, “Our malls will continue to carry out an enhanced cleaning regime and implement crowd management measures such as directing shoppers to manned entrances as well as deploying security staff for crowd control.”


Umno election candidates no longer president’s call alone, says Zahid

The selection of candidates to be fielded by Umno for the Melaka polls and 15th general election will no longer be decided by the party president alone.Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the matter would be jointly determined with deputy president Mohamad Hasan and vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob who is also the prime minister.“This means we three agree that (candidates to be selected) must be individuals who are winnable, acceptable and likeable to the voters,” he said when closing the Umno President Cup Oratory competition yesterday.Zahid who is also Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman added however that appointment letters would not be signed if the candidate is not agreed to at the BN level.


Lawyers group slams JPN for seizing woman's IC

Lawyers group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) today hit out at the National Registration Department (JPN) for seizing the identity card of a cancer patient in Sarawak on the grounds of investigating her citizenship, saying there are constitutional procedures in place for any such measures.
LFL director Zaid Malek said JPN had no right to confiscate anyone's IC irrespective of the investigation being carried out.
"The seizure of the NRIC of the individual was without a doubt an unlawful and unconstitutional act by JPN for which there can be no justification," he added.
"It is a serious abuse of power as it an act that deprives victims of their citizenship and their rights attached to it."
Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail had defended JPN's action, saying investigations had showed that the woman was an Indonesian citizen.
However, LFL said the Federal Constitution clearly lays out the procedures to be followed if the government intends to strip a person of his or her citizenship, including notice in writing and an inquiry and report.  "Above and beyond that, Article 26B states that no person shall be deprived of their citizenship if it results in their statelessness. "The fact that the home minister made no reference to such a process having been conducted means that the government is defending a blatantly unconstitutional act by the JPN.
"JPN itself has confirmed that the investigation is still ongoing, which logically means that the process under the constitution has not even begun. Thus, the individual retains their citizenship until and unless an order for its deprivation is made in compliance with the constitution – yet her NRIC was taken away and her rights are now affected, most worrying of which was her right to get treatment for cancer at government hospitals."
In a statement, LFL said it was Saifuddin's duty to ensure JPN complied with the law.
"Yet he has opted to give out a callous remark, justifying an indefensible action to a woman who is literally dying and is now made to suffer even more due to the actions of JPN."
It also urged the government to return the woman's IC, saying it is her right to hold it until and unless an order of deprivation of citizenship is made in compliance with the constitution. "We also urge the government to immediately investigate and take action against anyone in JPN implicated in the decision to confiscate the woman’s NRIC in flagrant disregard of the constitution."


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Russia and Iran discuss swapping supplies for oil and gas, goods logistics

Russia and Iran have discussed swapping supplies for oil and gas as well as setting up a logistics hub, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, as Moscow is challenging Western sanctions over its military operation in Ukraine.Russia has been tackling Western sanctions, which curbed its oil exports and production by restricting trade and financing. The US banned imports of Russian oil shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine, while the European Union is considering a phased embargo, pushing more Russian oil cargoes towards Asia.Iran’s oil industry has struggled for years under US sanctions imposed over Tehran’s nuclear work.“Of course, Iran has lived (under sanctions) for years, and we have discussed the Iranian experience,” Novak told Russian state TV during his visit to Iran.“Iran could become a key transportation and logistic hub for ensuring mutual transportation of goods,” Novak said, adding that the annual goods turnover between Russia and Iran has potential to rise to 50 million tonnes in a few years from 15 million tonnes now.He said Russia may supply its energy to northern Iran, while at the same time Iranian oil and gas could be exported to Asia Pacific regions from the south. Novak said the agreements could be sealed in the near future.The two countries also discussed investment in some oil and gas projects, Novak said.


PKR to contest 14 seats in Sabah polls

PKR has confirmed that it will contest 14 seats in the upcoming Sabah election.Sabah PKR Leadership Council information chief Simsudin Sidek said the seats are Api-Api, Inanam, Tempasuk, Tamparuli, Matunggong, Klias, Sook, Kemabong, Segama, Limbahau, Sungai Manila, Membakut, Pintasan and Petagas.“This time around, we will do a thorough screening to ensure we have only credible candidates, including women and new young faces,” he said in a statement yesterday.Simsudin said the party also hoped to field Muslim and non-Muslim Bumiputeras, as well as Chinese candidates.In the 14th general election, PKR contested eight seats, winning in Api-Api and Inanam.


94.4% of adults, 72.2% of population fully jabbed

A total of 23,565,799 people or 94.4% of the adult population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as of yesterday.Meanwhile 25,344,201 people or 97.4% of adults have received at least one shot, including of the single-dose CanSino vaccine.In terms of total population, 72.2% are fully vaccinated while 77.6% have received at least one dose.Kelantan and Sabah remain below the 80% full vaccination level for adults at 77.3% and 71.8% respectively.Yesterday, 157,999 doses were administered, taking the cumulative number of vaccine shots given under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme to 48,831,214.


Bersatu warns of PH-BN ploy to use govt agencies, divert attention from nepotism controversy

Bersatu says it will cooperate fully in an investigation by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), but warns that the probe is part of an offensive against the party by both Pakatan Harapan (PH) and Barisan Nasional (BN), claiming that the ruling coalitions are using government agencies to kill off their political enemies.
Bersatu secretary-general Hamzah Zainudin, who is also the opposition leader, said the probe was a strategy to divert attention from the government's failures as well as from accusations of nepotism, believed to be a reference to the controversy surrounding Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's move to appoint his daughter as a senior financial adviser.
"Bersatu has always been firm with the principles of integrity and good governance," Hamzah said in a statement, in response to MACC's confirmation that the party's bank accounts had been frozen pending a money laundering probe.
Hamzah also urged Bersatu members to remain patient, saying the party was facing "slander".
MACC chief Azam Baki has meanwhile denied that the investigations were linked to allegations that the party had benefitted from the misuse of Covid-19 stimulus funds.
Allegations that Bersatu had used some RM600 billion funds from Covid-19 stimulus packages were raised during the peak of the general election campaign last year.
The claim was repeated by Anwar, who later said there had been "tens of billions" allocated by the previous government that violated procedures.
Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, who led the country throughout most part of the Covid-19 crisis, has strongly denied the allegations, and welcomed any investigations against the party.


Anwar's official trip to Saudi Arabia marred by failure to meet crown prince

Troubling questions have surfaced regarding the reception accorded to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during his recent official visit to Saudi Arabia, after it emerged that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who does double duty as the kingdom's prime minister, did not allocate time to meet with him.
Diplomats familiar with Saudi-Malaysian ties over the decades also drew comparisons with the official visit in March 2021 by then prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who held talks with Mohammed as well senior government leaders.
"A meeting with MBS would have been the highlight of any visit by a Malaysian prime minister, especially if it is considered an official visit," said a former Malaysian diplomat who served in various capitals in the Middle East, referring to the Saudi crown prince by his initials.
A Bernama report said the scheduled meeting with Mohammed did not take place as the crown prince had a change of plans ahead of the Ramadan month.
Anwar himself said he was disappointed at not being able to meet him, but added that Saudi leaders had requested him to extend his stay for two more days in order to meet with the kingdom's leaders.
Anwar also said that he could not stay longer as he had to attend an iftar (breaking of fast) event with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and make an official one-day trip to Cambodia.
"But the fact that Anwar went on an official visit to Saudi Arabia, and that too to fulfil an invitation by MBS, only to be told that MBS was not able to meet because he had changed his plans, is nothing less than a major embarrassment," said the same diplomat.
A quick check of Saudi media reports showed little coverage of Anwar's visit.
Among those he met was the governor of Jeddah, the president of the Islamic Development Bank, and an official of the Muslim World League, a Saudi propagation outfit with which Anwar has been long associated.
"None of these leaders represent the pinnacle of Saudi power that any high ranking government leader should meet to make their trip worthwhile," said the same diplomat.
"Wisma Putra and the Malaysian embassy will have to answer many difficult questions about how a prime minister's official visit went downhill this way."
He said in contrast, Muhyiddin's visit to Saudi Arabia in March 2021 saw him in talks with crown prince Mohammed, as well as witnessing the signing of memorandums of understanding.
Upon his arrival in Riyadh, Muhyiddin was also greeted by Mohammed himself at the airport.
Earlier in Mecca, where he performed the umrah, Muhyiddin was granted access to the kaabah, a rare honour given only to heads of government and eminent Muslim figures.
Meanwhile, Anwar began his Saudi trip by arriving in Jeddah in order to perform the umrah. A Bernama report said he was greeted on arrival by the city's governor.
'Missing Saudi hospitality?'
Speaking to MalaysiaNow, a diplomatic source familiar with Malaysia's ties with Gulf nations questioned the excuse of a change in the crown prince's schedule making him "unable to meet his counterpart from a country that is one of Saudi Arabia's most important partners".
"The famed Saudi hospitality is missing here. This is rarely the case even for less friendly leaders," he added.
He said Anwar did not even have to show that he was frendlier to the Saudis than previous Malaysian leaders by raising the issue of the closure of a Saudi-backed centre in 2018.
"If he was invited for an official trip, he deserves to be accorded the proper protocols," he said.
At a press conference just before leaving home, Anwar said he disagreed with the decision by the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration to stop the setting up of the King Salman Centre for International Peace (KSCIP).
KSCIP was first proposed by Saudi monarch King Salman Abdul Aziz during his visit to Malaysia in 2017, and was approved by the then Barisan Nasional government headed by Najib Razak.
In 2018, the PH government headed by Dr Mahathir Mohamad ordered the closure of the centre, reflecting Putrajaya's move at that time to distance itself from Saudi's pro-Western policies.
Anwar's failure to meet with crown prince Mohammed is not the first diplomatic gaffe suffered by a Malaysian leader in recent years.
In April last year, MalaysiaNow reported that a communication blunder by top diplomats at the Malaysian embassy in the United Arab Emirates resulted in a lack of official presence to greet then prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was to attend a major trade expo.
The government had then blamed the Malaysian ambassador to the UAE, Tarid Sufian, and its consul-general in Dubai, Hasril Abdul Hamid, both of whom were recalled to Wisma Putra.


Pollution turns Argentina lake bright pink

A lagoon in Argentina’s southern Patagonia region has turned bright pink in a striking, but frightful phenomenon experts and activists blame on pollution by a chemical used to preserve prawns for export.The colour is caused by sodium sulfite, an anti-bacterial product used in fish factories, whose waste is blamed for contaminating the Chubut river that feeds the Corfo lagoon and other water sources in the region, according to activists.Residents have long complained of foul smells and other environmental issues around the river and lagoon.“Those who should be in control are the ones who authorise the poisoning of people,” environmental activist Pablo Lada told AFP, blaming the government for the mess.The lagoon turned pink last week and remained the abnormal colour on Sunday, said Lada, who lives in the city of Trelew, not far from the lagoon and some 1,400km south of Buenos Aires.Environmental engineer and virologist Federico Restrepo told AFP the coloration was due to sodium sulfite in fish waste, which by law, should be treated before being dumped.The lagoon, which is not used for recreation, receives runoff from the Trelew industrial park and has turned the colour of fuchsia before.But residents of the area are fed up.In recent weeks, residents of Rawson, neighbouring Trelew, blocked roads used by trucks carrying processed fish waste through their streets to treatment plants on the city’s outskirts.“We get dozens of trucks daily, the residents are getting tired of it,” said Lada.With Rawson off limits due to the protest, provincial authorities granted authorisation for factories to dump their waste instead in the Corfo lagoon.“The reddish colour does not cause damage and will disappear in a few days,” environmental control chief for Chubut province, Juan Micheloud, told AFP last week.Sebastian de la Vallina, planning secretary for the city of Trelew disagreed: “It is not possible to minimise something so serious.”Plants that process fish for export, mainly prawns and hake, generate thousands of jobs for Chubut province, home to some 600,000 people.Dozens of foreign fishing companies operate in the area in waters under Argentina’s Atlantic jurisdiction.“Fish processing generates work… it’s true. But these are multi-million-dollar profit companies that don’t want to pay freight to take the waste to a treatment plant that already exists in Puerto Madryn, 35 miles away, or build a plant closer,” said Lada.


Many countries forced to suspend vaccine programme, says WHO

A “huge number” of poorer countries have had to suspend their coronavirus vaccination programmes due to a lack of doses, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.The shortages often mean people who have received one dose of Covid-19 vaccine have to wait too long before they can get their second jab.“We have a huge number of countries that have had to suspend their rollout of their second doses of vaccine,” said Bruce Aylward, WHO’s frontman for the international Covax scheme which provides vaccine doses to poorer countries.“If I remember correctly, it’s over 30 or 40 countries that could have been targeted for second doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, for example, who will not be able to do that,” Aylward added.The countries affected by this problem are spread throughout the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, the WHO expert said.Countries around India, like Nepal and Sri Lanka, have been “particularly hit hard” and face “a severe wave of disease”, he added.The Serum Institute of India (SII), producing AstraZeneca doses, was supposed to be the backbone of Covax’s supply chain – but India restricted exports to combat its own devastating coronavirus surge.“We are now urgently trying to work with AstraZeneca itself, as well as SII, the government in India to restart those shipments so that we can get those second doses into those populations because we are running to a longer interval than we would have liked in that regard,” said Aylward.He bemoaned that “only countries right now that have got the financial resources, who are producing the products, actually have access to vaccines”.On Monday, WHO warned that coronavirus is moving faster than the vaccines, and that the G7 nations’ vow to provide a billion doses for poorer nations is simply not enough.In Africa only about 1% of the population is fully vaccinated, according to WHO figures.As of Thursday, the Covax scheme had provided just 88 million vaccine doses, spread out over 131 countries, far less than originally planned.


Conglomerate defends frontliners at jab centres after negative claims online

A private university group today defended frontline workers at vaccination centres nationwide after a series of claims ranging from empty syringes to delays blamed on staff made the rounds on social media.“To begin with, most delays stem from recipients who do not follow their appointment slots as stated in their MySejahtera application,” UCSI Group, among the companies which have converted their venues into vaccination centres or PPVs under the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, said in a statement.“Having a sudden influx of recipients at a given time will cause congestion and delays, and this inevitably disrupts the flow of the vaccination process.”It is understood that a member of the public had recently uploaded a video purportedly showing a nurse injecting him with an empty syringe at a PPV run by UCSI.The group has denied the claim and lodged a police report, and the video has since been taken down.UCSI said using phones to capture the vaccination process could distract the medical workers tasked with administering the jabs.“At UCSI, frontliners inclusive of doctors, nurses, auxiliary police, and volunteers who are UCSI University’s lecturers, administrative and management staff are not only well informed of the procedure of the vaccination process but have also adhered professionally to all guidelines,” it said.“They work tirelessly, some days up to 12 hours in a stretch, with little rest while fighting fatigue to support the good cause of the national immunisation programme.”Urging members of the public to follow the SOPs set by the health ministry, it said this would ensure a smooth process from beginning to end.“Let us do our part to keep each other safe,” it added. “The fight is with Covid-19. Not each other.”


Australia bans own citizens arriving from India, says anyone trying can face jail

Australian residents and citizens who have been in India within 14 days of the date they plan to return home will be banned from entering Australia as of Monday and those who disobey will face fines and jail, government officials said.The temporary ban, issued late on Friday, is the first time Australia has made it a criminal offence for its citizens to return home. The government will reconsider the restrictions on May 15.The move is part of strict measures to stop travellers to Australia from India as it battles a tsunami of Covid-19 cases and deaths.The restrictions come into effect from May 3 and anyone breaching the ban risks up to five years imprisonment, Health Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement.“The government does not make these decisions lightly,” Hunt said. “However, it is critical that the integrity of the Australian public health and quarantine systems is protected and the number of Covid-19 cases in quarantine facilities is reduced to a manageable level.”India’s official coronavirus death toll passed 200,000 this week, and cases are nearing 19 million as virulent new strains have combined with “super-spreader” events such as political rallies and religious festivals. Actual numbers could be many times more, commentators agree.Neela Janakiramanan, an Australian surgeon with family in India told Reuters the decision to “criminalise” Australians returning from India was disproportionate and overly punitive.“Indian-Australians are seeing this as a racist policy because we are being treated different than people from other countries who have had similar waves of infection like the US, the UK and Europe. It is very hard to feel anything other than targeted as an ethnic group.”A spokesman for the Health Minister “deeply” rejected the view that stopping arrivals from India temporarily was a biased measure, saying it was a difficult but necessary decision that applied “to all people no matter their nationality, race or religion”.Human rights groups voiced indignation at the ban, suggesting the government’s focus should be on improving its quarantine system, not on punishment.“This is an outrageous response. Australians have a right of return to their own country,” Human Rights Watch Australia director, Elaine Pearson said in a statement.“The government should be looking for ways to safely quarantine Australians returning from India, instead of focusing their efforts on prison sentences and harsh punishments.”Australia, which has had no recent community transmissions, on Tuesday introduced a temporary suspension of direct flights from India until mid-May. However, some Australians, including cricketers Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson, returned via Qatar.Tuesday’s move left over 9,000 Australians stranded in India.


Australia weather forecaster puts chance of El Nino in 2023 at 70%

Australia's weather bureau said on Tuesday there was a 70% chance this year of an El Nino weather pattern developing, typically associated with hotter, dryer weather.
The Bureau of Meteorology said its climate models and indicators have now met the criteria to raise the level to "alert" from "watch" for the possibility an El Nino event.
"While the models show it's very likely the tropical Pacific Ocean temperatures will reach El Nino levels during winter, we have seen some movement in the atmosphere towards El Nino conditions," climatologist Catherine Ganter said in a statement.
"These changes will need to strengthen and sustain themselves over a longer period for us to consider an El Nino event."
The weather warnings come after Australia's chief commodity forecaster on Tuesday said the winter crop production was set to fall from record highs due to expectations of dry weather ahead.
In an El Nino pattern, there is a higher chance of drier weather in Australia's east and it would likely be warmer than usual for the southern two-thirds of Australia.
That could hit wheat production in Australia, the world's second-largest exporter of the grain, following three years of record or near-record output due to a rare, extended La Nina weather pattern, which typically brings more rain.


Israel's Netanyahu reaches coalition deal with far-right Religious Zionism party

Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu reached a coalition deal with the far-right Religious Zionism party, bringing him closer to securing a new government after an election last month, Netanyahu's Likud party said on Thursday.
Religious Zionism will be given control of the finance ministry as part of a rotation, Likud said, though it did not lay out how the rotation would work. It will also have strong influence over policies in the occupied West Bank and the country's justice system.
The deal nets Netanyahu control of 46 of the Knesset's 120 seats so far.
Israel's Army Radio reported that Bezalel Smotrich, 42, who heads Religious Zionism, would serve as finance minister at the outset and will then be replaced.
His party, which opposes Palestinian statehood and supports extending Israeli sovereignty into the West Bank, will be given authority over Jewish settlement activity there, though it will be in coordination with Netanyahu, the Likud statement said.
"This is another significant step bringing us closer to forming a right-wing, nationalist government that will look out for all Israeli citizens," Netanyahu said.
The agreement comes after Netanyahu's right-wing alliance won a comfortable victory in a Nov 1 election, Israel's fifth in less than four years.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem – areas that Palestinians want for a state – in a 1967 war. US-sponsored negotiations stalled in 2014 but the expansion of settlements has continued despite international opposition.
Smotrich is more known for his nationalistic politics than his economic views. He ran together with far-right ally Itamar Ben-Gvir, though they now head separate factions in Knesset.
Ben-Gvir is already signed up with Netanyahu after being promised the national security ministry, a newly created portfolio with powers over police in Israel and the West Bank.
Smotrich served briefly in a previous Netanyahu-led government as transportation minister from 2019-2020. He advocates conservative fiscal policies like lowering the debt-to-GDP ratio, favours a universal tax decrease on businesses and hopes to rein in public sector strikes.


Ex-Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali admits receiving cash linked to 1MDB, SRC

Former Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali today admitted receiving cash linked to state investment arm 1MDB and its former unit SRC International but said he did not realise the connection as the cheque had carried the name of Najib Razak.“I admit that I received a personal cheque from Najib with his name on it, but I did not realise that it was related to money from SRC or 1MDB as there was no mention of either on the cheque,” he said in a statement following news that 22 civil suits linked to the scandal had been lodged against individuals and entities accused of wrongfully receiving money from the funds.“I do not remember when I received it but it was certainly before the 1MDB issue was revealed after the 13th general election,” he added.“If it had already been revealed, I would not have accepted it and Najib himself would not have been using that account anymore.”Ibrahim said for five years after winning the 12th general election on a PAS ticket, he had been an independent MP friendly to Barisan Nasional (BN).“As an independent MP, I did not possess the funds to hold programmes for the people in my constituency,” he added.Heading into GE13, he said, he had been forced to source for funds from anyone willing to contribute in order to help his constituents.“If I had to, I used my credit card to its limit,” he said.“After GE13, I met Najib to ask for help to resolve the financial issues as much had been spent throughout those five years including while contesting GE13.“He agreed to help, I thought, because I was an independent friendly with BN. I did not know where he obtained the funds to help me. Perhaps from the coffers of Umno or BN, or from his personal finances.“What need was there for me to reject the help he gave? Certainly I did not question the source of the funds given that Najib had been in the Cabinet for a long time, since his 20s. Surely the amount was within his means.”Ibrahim, who now leads the Putra political party, said he had used the money to pay for programmes for the people in Pasir Mas, stressing that nothing had been spent on personal matters.“For the record, as president of Perkasa, I was among the earliest individuals who had called for the government to form a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the 1MDB scandal,” he added.“I am ready to wait for the suit and to answer in court. Let the court decide if I should return the money or not, as I spent it all not knowing whether it came from a wrongful source.”The 22 writs by 1MDB and SRC International were filed on May 7 for the recovery of assets with a combined total in excess of RM96.6 billion, including some RM300 million against various local parties.Both 1MDB and SRC International said these parties had been unjustly enriched by the wrongful receipt of money from them.


Najib taunts authorities after breaching Covid-19 SOPs

Former prime minister Najib Razak put up a brave front today after admitting to breaching Covid-19 SOPs during a visit to a popular food outlet in the city centre.Najib, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the government’s Covid-19 containment measures, was seen entering Nasi Ayam Hainan Chee Meng in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, without scanning the restaurant’s QR code as required under Covid-19 SOPs.He claimed that his officers had checked in on his behalf.“I admit my mistake this time in not checking in myself although my officers did,” he said in a Facebook post after he was criticised on social media.The former leader also invited the authorities to issue him with a summons while claiming that his action was an “unintentional mistake”.The compound for not scanning MySejahtera is RM1,500, as stated by law minister Takiyuddin Hassan two days ago.“I will pay the compound within seven days in order to get the early bird discount of 50%, meaning a fine of RM750. I will pay the summons for my mistake voluntarily,” Najib said.A one-and-a-half minute video clip being shared on mobile messaging platform WhatsApp shows Najib arriving at the restaurant accompanied by a police escort, part of the official security apparatus provided by the government for former prime ministers.The clip prompted comments from social media users.“Only in Malaysia convicted VIPs treated like a super star,” read one comment by user Tanaraj Rajoo.Najib is among Umno leaders who have joined opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and others in questioning the revised compounds, accusing Putrajaya of double standards in enforcing SOP laws.He also recently hit out at Khairy Jamaluddin, the minister in charge of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, claiming that it would not be able to achieve its objective of reaching herd immunity within this year.Despite breaching the SOPs, Najib continued to hit out at the authorities, claiming he was law-abiding unlike “other ministers”.“If they have double standards, that is their business. I want no double standards in my case.”Under current SOPs, patrons must scan in using the MySejahtera contact tracing app and check their temperatures before entering a premise.Thousands of people have been slapped with compounds for breaching SOPs since last year.Hundreds have also been slapped with the recently revised compound of RM10,000.The restaurant owner who spoke to MalaysiaNow said Najib had arrived at very short notice.“We didn’t know how many people came,” he said. “I asked but they didn’t give me an exact number so we weren’t really sure.“As far as I was concerned, when he came I told his officer to scan MySejahtera. But he is the VIP, so if we expect all of them to scan one by one, it would be difficult,” he said.Farhira Farudin contributed to this report.


France says it thwarted attack on websites from Russian state-linked actors

France's foreign minister said on Tuesday that France had prevented a hybrid digital attack on her ministry's website likely carried out by Russian state-linked actors, along with attacks on other government websites and French media sites.
Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna also said France believed there was a broader campaign of spreading disinformation in France by Russian protagonists.
"This campaign is notably based upon creating fake internet pages to hack into the identity of national media and government websites, as well as by creating fake accounts on social media networks," Colonna said in a statement.
Moscow has consistently denied that it carries out hacking operations.
Colonna said Russian embassies and Russian cultural institutes were also involved in this campaign, and reaffirmed France's support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Many countries around the world that have expressed their support for Ukraine have disclosed similar hits on websites.
Earlier this week, Swiss authorities said several government websites had been targeted in a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that was claimed by pro-Russian hackers.
In May, US authorities said that the FBI had sabotaged a suite of malicious software used by elite Russian spies.


5 arrested for trafficking drugs through Singapore courier services

Police arrested four women and a local man on suspicion of trafficking drugs worth RM4.9 million in several raids around Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur recently.Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department deputy director Abdul Aziz Abdul Majid (forfeiture of property/legal/detention) said the raids were carried out from Sept 24 to Sept 28 as a result of information sharing and cooperation with the Singapore Central Narcotics Bureau.He said those arrested were between 21 and 71 years old. The police also seized three vehicles: a Toyota Velfire, a Toyota Hilux and a Honda City four-wheel-drive.In the raid, the police seized various types of drugs worth RM4.9 million including syabu weighing 5.8kg, ketamine weighing 14.8kg, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) liquid (30.1 litres), MDMA powder (34.3kg) and caffeine (2.2kg).“Based on the seizure, we also believe there was drug processing activity at a warehouse here (Kajang) but this matter is still being investigated,” he said in a press conference at the Kajang district police headquarters.Aziz said the syndicate had been carrying out drug trafficking activities for the international market using the services of a Singapore-based courier company to send packages containing drugs to Singapore and European countries after declaring that they contained regular goods.He said a total of RM426,926 was also seized from 11 bank accounts with the total value of drug seizures and seized items at RM5.6 million.He said the syndicate is believed to have been active since the beginning of this year apart from trafficking drugs around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.“The police are still tracking down several individuals and the mastermind who is still at large. Preliminary investigations found that all the suspects had no past records and their urine tests were also negative for drugs.“The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and all suspects were remanded for 12 days to assist in the investigation,” he said.


Vaccines reduce Covid transmission by 40%, says WHO

Covid vaccines reduce transmission of the dominant Delta variant by about 40%, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday, warning that people were falling into a false sense of security concerning jabs.WHO’s director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said many vaccinated people were wrongly thinking the jab meant they no longer needed to take any other precautions.Fully-immunised people must stick with measures to avoid catching the virus and passing it on, Tedros insisted, spelling out how the more contagious Delta meant the vaccines were not as effective against transmission.“We’re concerned about the false sense of security that vaccines have ended the pandemic and people who are vaccinated do not need to take any other precautions,” Tedros told reporters.“Vaccines save lives but they do not fully prevent transmission.“Data suggests that before the arrival of the Delta variant, vaccines reduced transmission by about 60%. With Delta, that has dropped to about 40%.”The more transmissible Delta variant is now overwhelmingly dominant around the world, having all but out-competed other strains.“If you are vaccinated, you have a much lower risk of severe disease and death but you are still at risk of being infected and infecting others,” said Tedros.“We cannot say this clearly enough: even if you are vaccinated, continue to take precautions to prevent becoming infected yourself, and infecting someone else who could die.”That meant wearing a face mask, maintaining distance, avoiding crowds and meeting others outside or only in a well-ventilated indoor space, he said.Delta dominanceOf 845,000 sequences uploaded to the Gisaid global science initiative with specimens collected in the last 60 days, 99.8% were Delta, according to WHO’s weekly epidemiological report.Maria Van Kerkhove, the UN health agency’s technical lead on Covid, said the Delta variant itself was evolving and WHO was trying to track circulation and changes in the virus.“We’re making plans here, looking through future scenarios about how much more this virus will change in terms of transmissibility or if there will be potential future immune escape, which will render some of our counter-measures less effective,” she said.WHO has long stressed that the currently available Covid-19 vaccines are primarily aimed at reducing the risk of severe illness, hospitalisation and death, rather than transmission.WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that while vaccine protection against infection was not as high with Delta as with the variants it has overtaken, the level of prevention it gives against severe disease was “still above 80 percent in the majority of cases”.Social mixing in EuropeEurope’s return as the pandemic’s epicentre has been blamed on Delta, sluggish vaccine uptake in some nations, colder weather moving people indoors again and the easing of restrictions.Last week, more than 60% of all reported Covid-19 infections and deaths were in Europe, with the sheer number of cases translating into unsustainable pressure on health systems and exhausted health workers, said Tedros.Europe recorded more than 2.4 million new cases last week – an 11% rise on the week before. Infections were up 31% in Germany.WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that people in Europe, even in the midst of a major resurgence in cases and huge pressure on health systems, were “back to pre-pandemic levels of social mixing”.“The reality is the virus will continue to transmit intensely in that environment,” he said.


MoU to support Anwar's govt clouded by questions of legality, constitutionality

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed yesterday by party chiefs to ensure that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim remains in power has been described as illegal and unconstitutional, with a lawyer warning that they could be subject to criminal investigation for compelling MPs to vote in a certain direction in the Dewan Rakyat.
Haniff Khatri Abdulla said a clause in the MoU on the sacking of MPs who vote against the government was not only in conflict with the recent constitutional amendment on party hopping, but also out of line with the constitutions of the various political parties involved in the agreement.
He said even after Article 49A of the constitution barring MPs from switching parties, none of the political parties had amended their constitutions to specify the dos and don'ts of members that could affect their status as elected representatives.
"Whether the parties like it or not, it is their responsibility to include this in their constitutions or rules if they so wish, but this was not done at that time by any party," Haniff told an online programme last night, adding that the recent anti-hopping provision in the constitution clearly stated that an MP sacked from his party would not lose his seat.
"There is no provision in the constitution of the respective parties that says if a member who is an MP does so and so, or does not do so and so, they will be dismissed from the party."
The recently added Article 49A of the constitution states, among others, that an MP will remain as a member of the Dewan Rakyat if he is expelled from his party.
As such, Haniff said that despite signing the MoU, an MP would not lose his seat even if he votes across the floor due to the constitutional provision.
He also warned that affected MPs could bring the matter to court over this conflict with the constitution.
Yesterday, Anwar led leaders from Pakatan Harapan (PH), Barisan Nasional (BN), Gabungan Parti Sarawak, Gabungan Rakyat Sabah and Warisan in signing an MoU designed to ensure that his coalition government remains in power, with a controversial clause that any MP from the signatory parties who does not support government motions will be deemed as disqualified, and their seat declared vacant for a by-election.
The MoU, ahead of a confidence vote on Anwar next week, also states that the onus is on the parties to take action on MPs who vote outside of party lines.
Party leaders said the MoU would ensure the stability and unity of the coalition government over the next five years, following a hung parliament from the November polls which saw Anwar's PH forced to form a fragile coalition with rival parties.
Haniff said stability from a hung parliament should come from the maturity and conscience of elected representatives.
"It cannot be forced, influenced or made into a threat of losing their seats as long as it is not stated in the constitution," he added.
Masjid Tanah MP Mas Ermieyati Samsudin meanwhile warned that the pact would bring the country towards dictatorship.
Mas, a former deputy minister in charge of law, said the constitution gave absolute freedom to MPs to vote according to their conscience.
She cited a Supreme Court decision in 1983 which declared any agreement barring MPs from voting across the floor as illegal.
"The threat and intimidation created by this MoU agreement against MPs from government parties is a prelude to dictatorship," she said.
Mas said MPs from Perikatan Nasional were also in support of a stable government but not "by infringing the constitution and laws".
"This agreement is illegal, unconstitutional, dangerous and unenforceable," she said.
She also reminded Anwar of a parliamentary select committee report on the anti-hopping law released in July, which stated that an MP who does not vote according to party lines will not lose his seat under Article 49A.
"This is at Paragraph 21.4 of the select committee report. Surely Anwar and the party leaders are not ignorant of this bipartisan select committee report.
"Clearly, they deceitfully chose to ignore it in a desperate attempt to frighten and intimidate their own MPs into toeing the line, despite the damage it does to parliamentary democracy."
Criminal action
Haniff meanwhile warned that party leaders may have opened themselves to criminal investigation, citing a provision in the Penal Code against compelling an MP in how he votes in the Dewan Rakyat.
Section 124 of the Penal Code criminalises the act of "inducing or compelling or attempting to induce or compel a member of Parliament or of any legislative assembly or of any state executive council to exercise or refrain from exercising in any manner the lawful powers".
Haniff said the criminal element would be up to the courts to decide.
"If there is a complaint made by the relevant MP under Section 124 (Penal Code), then the police should open an investigation paper.
"If MPs cannot be forced to follow something that is not found in the Federal Constitution or the party constitution, it could expose party leaders to criminal investigation."
Mas said the MoU marked a "new form of despotism" never before seen in Malaysian parliamentary history.
"The forcing of MPs to vote as ordered by party leaders is similar to the system in North Korea or the People’s Republic of China. It has no place in our democratic system.
"This MoU orchestrated by Anwar Ibrahim and PH-BN will go down in historical infamy as an attempt to subvert parliamentary democracy and the basic structure of our constitution," she added.
Haniff said there was no need for such an MoU, adding that he believed Anwar could still secure the support needed without it.
"A hung parliament should lead to the maturity of MPs and the political leadership.
"If we want to make a clause like that, it is akin to the government threatening its supporters. This is unhealthy."


Rais Hussin resigns as MDEC chairman

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) chairman Rais Hussin has announced his resignation, saying the decision was based on principles.MDEC is a GLC under the communications and multimedia ministry headed by Annuar Musa.Rais, who was involved in Bersatu, was appointed to head MDEC in June 2020, three months after the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan government.In a statement, he said he had made known his intention to step down to Annuar in August.“It would have been much easier to just ‘follow’ instructions from the shareholder ministry and/or the supervisory ministry, but that would be tantamount to a huge battle of conscience.“I have always believed in doing the right thing anchored on the right principles. Anything less would have crossed the red lines that I have drawn for myself,” he said.


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Britain to host first global summit on AI safety

Britain will host a global summit on artificial intelligence safety later this year and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden will discuss the technology at their Thursday meeting, the UK government said.
The summit will consider the risks of AI, including frontier systems, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action, the British government said in a statement. No date was given for the event.
Biden and Sunak, who will meet on Thursday for a fourth time in as many months, will work to coordinate their approaches on critical and emerging technologies, with an eye to strengthening their economic security, British and US officials said.
US technology company Palantir Technologies, which already has more than 800 employees in Britain, will separately announce plans to make the UK its new European headquarters for AI development, the British government said.
Sunak planned wide-ranging discussions with Biden on the UK-US relationship and how the two countries could work together to strengthen their economies and cement their "joint leadership in the technologies of the future," the government said.
Several governments are considering how to mitigate the dangers of the emerging technology, which has experienced a boom in investment and consumer popularity in recent months after the release of OpenAI's ChatGPT.
That includes China, where the government is seeking to initiate artificial intelligence regulations, according to billionaire Elon Musk who met officials during his recent trip to China.
Regulators globally have been scrambling to draw up rules governing the use of generative AI, which can create text and images, the impact of which proponents compare to the arrival of the internet.
Sunak is on a trip to the US and will meet Biden at the White House on Thursday.