Good morning. Here's what you should know today.

Key Highlights

  • Campaign season begins

  • Dr M, Muhyiddin bury hatchet

  • Muda’s election plan

Campaign season begins

Campaign season for the six state elections has begun!

Officially, campaigning will only begin on nomination day - which falls on July 29.

However, the announcement of election dates is a signal for parties to kick their politicking and electioneering into high gear.

Harapan and BN will be launching their Selangor election machinery tomorrow, and might even unveil seat allocation plans.

Candidate unveilings will follow suit, and political ceramahs will be a more regular occurrence before becoming a daily event once the campaign officially starts.

Polling day is on Aug 12.

HIGHLIGHTS

MCA, MIC to skip state elections
PM: MCA and MIC still loyal to coalition govt
Annuar Musa links Kit Siang to May 13 riot

Dr M, Muhyiddin bury hatchet

Ex-premiers Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Muhyiddin Yassin have buried the hatchet, nearly a month after the former confirmed that he is endorsing PN in the state polls.

It wasn’t that long ago that Mahathir called Muhyiddin a traitor over the 2020 change in government.

However, the duo met on Tuesday night at Mahathir’s residence and spoke at length about the “position and future of the Malays”.

The meeting has also sparked new hope for Mahathir’s son, Mukhriz, to get his party Pejuang into PN.

HIGHLIGHTS

Not surprised predecessors in cahoots, says PM
Federal Constitution does not safeguard vernacular schools, court hears
Azmin regrets nominating Amirudin as successor

Muda’s election plan

Muda’s decision to go solo in the six state elections has been described by some critics as being “overambitious”.

However, party president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman revealed that Muda is aware that its the “underdog of underdogs” and plans to contest less than 10 percent of seats in the upcoming polls.

He described it as a starting point for a decades-long journey for Muda to make its “new politics” goal a reality.

HIGHLIGHTS

Dr M adds Syed Saddiq to list of threats to race, religion
Looking forward, Muda chief distances himself from old mentor Dr M
Zahid urges Najib's supporters to back unity govt

Views that matter

Does Fahmi Fadzil believe what he says?
By S Thayaparan 
Let’s defeat Dr M’s colonialist attacks on multiculturalism
By Wilfred Madius Tangau
When an 'unwise' PM throws good leader under the bus
By G Vinod

Other news that matter

  • Putrajaya is in the midst of finalising details on a proposal to only allow periodic withdrawals from the EPF once retirees hit the age of 55.

  • Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) denied hiring a company to handle travellers issued Not-To-Land (NTL) notices by the Immigration Department at KLIA.

  • A former secretary of the finance division of the Youth and Sports Ministry was sentenced to 15 years in jail and fined over RM283 million for a corruption and money laundering case involving over RM38 million.

  • The civil court quashed the Malaysian Competition Commission’s (MyCC) proposed RM86 million fine against Grab over the ride-hailing firm’s anti-competitive practice.

  • The High Court awarded over RM8 million to a woman and her four-year-old daughter who suffered severe and irreversible brain damage due to medical negligence during the child’s birth at a government hospital.

HIGHLIGHTS

KLIA incident: Two Chinese nationals return home, says MACC
NRD graft probe: Saifuddin to disclose name of officer to MACC
Tioman airport EIA: Bigger than expected, requires coral relocation