Good morning. Here are our picks for today.
Key Highlights
Seeing red over LGBTQ rehab
Daggers out, Mat Sabu ‘relaxed’
RM100m: Price of defection
Seeing red over LGBT rehab
“This amounts to torture.”
Justice For Sisters (JFS) has come out swinging at a plan to set up a rehabilitation centre in Johor that targets “deviant” LGBTQ individuals.
The group described the proposed centre as unconstitutional and a violation of human rights.
“Detaining people on the grounds of changing their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression undeniably amounts to torture,” said JFS co-founder Thilaga S.
JFS urged Suhakam to engage the Johor government and conduct a human rights assessment on similar state-sponsored centres nationwide.
The group said such centres disregard the Federal Court's finding that Section 28 of the Selangor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment which criminalises “sex against the order of nature” is unconstitutional.
According to Johor Islamic Affairs Committee chairperson Mohd Fared Khalid, the state has allocated RM400,000 to establish the centre by July next year.
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Daggers out, Mat Sabu ‘relaxed’
The prospect of being challenged for the top post in Amanah is not giving Mohamad Sabu sleepless nights.
In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, the veteran politician said: “Regardless of whether I feel pressured, if there are challengers, they will go ahead. So it's better I stay relaxed and leave it to the delegates.”
It is believed that there are attempts to unseat Mohamad, who is better known as Mat Sabu, to install a new leader capable of attracting fresh members.
The agriculture and food security minister, who co-founded Amanah in 2015, has been the president since the party’s formation.
The 69-year-old politician had a meteoric rise when he was in PAS to become its deputy president.
However, Mohamad and his allies were ousted from the PAS leadership in the 2015 party election, prompting them to form Amanah.
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RM100m: Price of defection
Umno and BN lawmakers who have been contemplating jumping over the political fence could face an expensive hurdle.
Apart from losing their seats, Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said they would also be slapped with a claim of RM100 million.
He explained that each Umno MP had signed a contract stipulating that they must relinquish their party membership if they went against the party's decision.
This, he says, would trigger Article 49A of the Federal Constitution, causing defectors to lose their seats in the Dewan Rakyat.
Commenting on Perikatan Nasional MPs expressing support for Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Asyraf said the opposition can continue dreaming about toppling the government.
“How is PN going to form the government? They need 112 (MPs). Currently, they have 69. How can they find more?” he asks.
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Views that matter
 | By S Thayaparan |
 | By Bridget Welsh |
 | By Martin Vengadesan |
Other news that matter
The government is expected to bear treatment costs of approximately RM369 million per year in 2030 for e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury (Evali) cases if no legal controls are in place.
A man was jailed for six months and fined RM500 in Terengganu for the offence of displaying an Israeli flag.
One of the three Special Branch police officers allegedly involved in the abduction of a Bangladeshi journalist early this month has been suspended.
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