KINI ROUNDUP | Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

PMO hires ex-Trump aide as lobbyist

The Prime Minister’s Office pay US$250,000 to a former aide to US President Donald Trump, Healy Baumgardner-Nardone, for lobbying services on May 19, according to PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli.

He cited documents submitted by Baumgardner-Nardone to the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) records, which he also furnished to the media.

Royal nod for PAS trio

Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah consented to Menteri Besar Azmin Ali’s proposal that the three PAS representatives on the state executive council remain until the 14th general election, in the interest of stability.

The move was lauded by PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who said the 13 PAS elected representatives will continue to serve the sultan and the people, while DAP’s Teng Chang Khim said the move will help Selangor maintain the political stability needed to attract investments.

Dr M for PM

An overwhelming 69.9 percent of the 12,777 Malaysiakini readers who voted in the news portal’s survey said they want former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad named as Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister candidate.

However, the figure is much lower for those who took the poll in the Chinese language, where only 51 percent agreed to Mahathir being named PM candidate.

Meanwhile, Gerakan Youth chief Tan Keng Liang urged the Election Commission to make it compulsory for political coalitions to name their designated prime minister.

Separately, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak praised fifth premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for remaining loyal to Umno, unlike those who left the party.

Other Kinibites

Mahathir mourned the loss of brainchild Proton, which ceased to be a wholly Malaysian car-making firm after China’s Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd bought a 49.9 percent stake on Wednesday.

Penang BN assemblypersons declared the state’s Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) ideal dead, accusing the state of allowing “crony companies” in developing mega projects.

Parti Amanah Negara adviser and veteran religious scholar Ahmad Awang said he was stopped from speaking at mosques and surau in Selangor after he challenged Abdul Hadi for PAS president in 2015, and was even more sidelined in the religious community after he left PAS to join Amanah.

Teachers and education advocates said English proficiency rates are so poor in Malaysian schools that students in secondary schools are barely literate and can only understand a handful of words from a passage meant to be read by seven-year-old.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rohani Abdul Karim was forced to apologise for welfare officers’ allegedly uncaring attitudes towards the needy, following complaints at a Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) dialogue.

Looking ahead

Umno information chief Annuar Musa will today announce the winner of the ‘Lim Kit Siang anti-Islam, diktator dan rasis?’ essay competition.

Nurul Ilham Anwar will give her statement to police in investigations into a candlelight vigil held for her father, jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.