Who’s Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for PM?
It’s hard to know if the rumours are true that Pakatan Harapan indeed has the numbers to wrest power from Perikatan Nasional. What is certain though is that, once more, it looks like the main event is Mahathir vs. Anwar.
In other news, experts say Malaysia could be facing a recession in four to six months, and despite the discovery of new Covid-19 clusters and yo-yoing daily infection numbers, we’ve now gone nine days without a single coronavirus-related death.
Oh, and belated Hari Gawai dan Pesta Kaamatan greetings to all of you!
What’s Fueling The Spike In Air Selangor’s Water Bill?
If you live in Selangor, you may have noticed something strange with your water bill. There’s a reason for that.
State of denial
The controversy over the government’s handling of Covid-19 infections among undocumented migrants continued yesterday, even as a senior minister defended it by saying those infected were brought to a “beautiful place” to be treated.
In other news, our daily Covid-19 infections have hit a new low; politicians from across the divide are in rare solidarity in condemning online harassment against two DAP Selangor reps; and, Pakatan is keeping mum about their choice of PM candidate, despite the fact everybody knows who it is.
Bad moon on the rise
We’ve gone back to triple-digit daily increases in new Covid-19 cases thanks in large part to new clusters at three Immigration detention depots. However, the government is insistent that we should be grateful for raids on undocumented foreigners.
In other news, Covid-19 patients will now be discharged from hospital after 14 days following new guidelines from the World Health Organization; there are no more restrictions to the number of people allowed in a vehicle, so long as they’re from the same family; doctors are calling a new standard operating procedure for childcare centres discriminatory against frontliners; and, a political party has come up with a brilliant (sarcasm mode: on) solution to the problem of drink driving.
New Covid-19 cluster emerges
There’s good news and bad news as far as Covid-19 is concerned. While 13 clusters have ended, another has made an appearance, this time among undocumented foreigners.
Meanwhile, the pregnant woman who traveled from the Ampang red zone to “green” Kelantan before testing positive for Covid-19 was allowed to do so for reasons that beggar belief.
In other news, the rift in Bersatu is getting bigger, with the party’s Youth wing now siding with its chairman and calling for party polls to happen soon; and, we learnt what “Project PITA” in 1MDB stood for (and it ain’t polite, shall we say).
And finally, folks – it’s gonna be a long weekend, with the Aidilfitri holidays falling on Monday and Tuesday. It’ll be a weird one this year, with us not being able to visit our Muslim friends and gorge on rendang and lemang. We hope you take care, social distance and stay safe. Between The Lines will be back in your mailbox on Wednesday.
Selamat Hari Raya, maaf zahir dan batin!
The Covid-19 Hari Raya litmus test
The country is maintaining its impressive Covid-19 recovery rate, which is among the best in the world right now. But with Hari Raya just around the corner, will there be an increase in infections, especially among those who may try to break the interstate travel ban and balik kampung, or even those who stay within state boundaries but don’t keep to social distancing norms?
Meanwhile, the Perikatan government claims the Agong’s opening address in Parliament vindicates them and is evidence it’s a legitimate government; former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad still seems to think he’s Pakatan leader; and, a lawyer wants the courts to review the decision to discharge Najib Razak’s stepboy Riza Aziz from money laundering charges.
Riza does (in) his stepdad
We were served up quite a bit of a surprise yesterday when we learned that a certain Malaysian Hollywood film producer may testify against his (in)famous stepfather. Could this be part of the deal which saw money laundering charges against said producer dropped?
In other news, the Jibster’s 1MDB corruption trial finally resumes after a long break; our dear old Bapa Pemodenan Malaysia, it seems, is not officially the chairman of Bersatu; and yet more audio clips regarding Bersatu and its decision to leave Pakatan Harapan have surfaced.
Last but not least, abang police or tentera may come knocking on your door during the upcoming Raya holidays if you have many vehicles parked outside your home.
PM Moo’s support is so damn slim!
Parliament may have only been convened for a couple of hours on Monday, but even that short sitting was enough to show everybody just how wafer-thin PM Muhyiddin Yassin’s majority support is.
In other news, Anwar Ibrahim goes missing from a press conference, Tommy Thomas sets the record straight one more time, and superheroes appear on business registers.
Who’s responsible for Riza Aziz’s discharge?
For our main story today, we take a look at the curious case of Riza Aziz’s discharge from his money laundering case. Ex-AG Tommy Thomas is catching flak for Riza being let off the hook. Thing is, he was no longer A-G when the decision to drop the charges against Jibby Razak’s stepson was made!
In other news, Mukhriz Mahathir finally exits the Kedah Menteri Besar’s office, Perikatan Nasional’s top six ink an MoU, and the Health Ministry worries that interstate travel may see Covid-19 infection rates spike.
Riza Aziz walks scot-free
Former premier Najib Razak’s stepson Riza Aziz has, controversially, been given a reprieve of charges brought against him for stealing (allegedly, allegedly!) a whopping amount of cash from 1Malaysia Development Bhd. All he has to do is give back just half the amount, apparently.
In other news, a minister has issued a “stern warning” to those who spread fake and seditious news; the battle of the Bersatu bigwigs continues with a conveniently-timed release of an audio clip featuring Dr Mahathir Mohamad; the Sultan of Kedah will meet with all the state’s assemblypersons to determine who should be MB; more people are set to lose their jobs thanks to Covid-19; and the PM’s own adviser thinks there should be a lockdown for Hari Raya.