Good morning, here's what you need to know today.


Key Highlights

  • Bid to sack Dewan Rakyat speaker

  • Selangor MB's leadership

  • Covid-19 tools



Bid to sack Dewan Rakyat speaker

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Azhar Azizan Harun has confirmed that several motions aimed at removing him from his post were submitted to Parliament.

However, Azhar said, he would allow his deputy Mohd Rashid Hasnon to decide on the motions, in order to avoid conflict of interest.

Rashid, a Perikatan Nasional (PN) MP, is unlikely to decide against Azhar.

Azhar's tenure had been tumultuous, being put in an awkward position amid a conflict between Istana Negara and the previous Muhyiddin Yassin government, which was on the verge of collapse and for working to stall the reconvening of Parliament.

Azhar's brother, attorney-general Idrus Harun, who had been closely advising Muhyiddin, was also reprimanded by the palace.

A motion was also submitted to censure Idrus following the royal rebuke, which Azhar similarly passed to Rashid, citing conflict of interest.

Despite the situation, Azhar has not indicated any plan to resign and is leaving his fate to the new government led by Ismail Sabri Yaakob. 



HIGHLIGHTS

Azalina’s push for recall election finds support
Under this, the people can withdraw their mandate for reps.
'Ismail Sabri playing it safe by ditching DPM'
Analysts say it's to avoid internal cracks.
Prosecution fails again to forfeit RM192m from Umno
The prosecution also has to pay back RM2.5m.




Selangor MB's leadership

The partial degazettement of the Hulu Langat (North) Forest Reserve has put a spotlight on the leadership of PKR's Amirudin Shari as Selangor menteri besar.

The decision prompted his party to summon him and he subsequently agreed to delay the degazettement.

The forest reserve was initially earmarked to be developed by a firm linked to the Selangor palace but amid intense attention on the project, a new developer from a firm linked to an Umno businessperson took charge.

This was not the first time Amirudin is seen as failing to uphold Pakatan Harapan's policies.

In 2019, Amirudin was reluctant to negotiate with the Selangor palace over a proposed bill that would allow unilateral conversion, something that Harapan and its predecessor, coalition Pakatan Rakyat, had fought against.

The saga almost led to his ouster as the menteri besar but was averted after the bill was put on ice.


HIGHLIGHTS

Limestone hills mapped amid concerns of destruction
Researchers hope to conserve the key landscape.
810, including PKR MP, sue S'gor govt over water supply disruption
They are seeking general, exemplary and aggravated damages.
Putrajaya disagrees with Selangor over degazettement
It hopes for sustainable development.

 



Covid-19 tools

The government moved to cap the retail price of Covid-19 antigen self-test kits at RM19.90. Previously, prices at pharmacies went as high as RM39.90 each.

However, Bandar Kuching MP Kelvin Yii suggested that the government subsidises the test kits as the new price could still be too high for low-income families.

The move is aimed at encouraging people to test themselves and protect the people around them.

Meanwhile, the MySejahtera application will introduce a "check-out" feature on top of the existing "check-in" function.

This will give a clearer time frame of people's movement in order to further improve contact-tracing efforts.

In another development, the Covid-19 panel was rebranded as the Special Committee on Pandemic Management and it will incorporate opposition representatives.



HIGHLIGHTS

Malacca and N Sembilan enter Phase 2 and 3 of NRP
Selected tourism sectors can also reopen.
Outbreak in classroom underscores Delta variant risks
An unvaccinated teacher unmasks to read aloud.
Huge jump in Covid cases among children this year
Over 24 times more are Covid-19 positive.

 



A daily glance at Covid-19

  • 20,988 new cases yesterday (Sept 2).

  • States outside the Klang Valley continue to hit record highs: Sarawak (2,992), Kedah (2,455) and Terengganu (987).

  • The national infectivity rate finally fell to 0.99. It must be sustained at below 1.0 for new Covid-19 cases to start declining. This was in part contributed by the improving situation in the Klang Valley but the infectivity rate in some states, such as Sarawak and Perlis, is at above 1.10.

  • For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital bed capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.


What else is happening?

  • The new government agreed to reappoint PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang as the country's special envoy to the Middle East. It also retained the previous government's special envoys to China and East Asia.

  • The head of Malaysia's team at the Tokyo Paralympics urged people to stop attacking Ukraine as it reflects poorly on Malaysia amid anger after a Ukrainian athlete got Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, who broke the record in the F20 (intellectual impairment) category, disqualified for being three minutes late.

  • The Johor Health Department acknowledged an incident at Sultan Ismail Hospital where a Covid-19 patient was left to give birth alone, explaining that it was because the delivery took place six hours earlier than expected.

  • Former health minister Dr S Subramaniam, in an interview with Malaysiakini, shared his thoughts on how to solve the job security issues facing government contract doctors.

  • Building on efforts to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, the Undi18 movement is now launching the UndiNegaraku initiative to cultivate youth leaders.


HIGHLIGHTS

Jan 2022 hearing of Najib’s appeal to reassess RM1.69b tax
It will be heard by the Special Commissioners of Income Tax.
UM student union in solidarity with threatened activist
It says threatening Shakila Zen is unacceptable.
Cops continuing sedition probe against #Lawan activists
Seven were summoned by the police for further questioning.



What are people saying?

Forest reserve flip-flop opens up can of worms
By Raman Letchumanan
Should Anwar step down?
By Wong Chin Huat
Will young leaders reform Harapan?
By S Thayaparan



CARTOON KINI