'Extraordinary tribute' on the horizon, says PM as govt faces turmoil

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has posted a teaser that Malaysians will be getting an “extraordinary tribute” soon.

Anwar, multiple ministries, and government agencies uploaded cryptic graphics on social media last night touting the tribute, with the catchphrase "Bersama Malaysiaku" (With my Malaysia).

It is not clear what kind of reward might be in store for the public, but the carrot offering comes after a particularly rough month for the Anwar administration.

The trouble started on June 9 when the government announced it was expanding the sales and service tax, including on imported fruits.

Critics warned that the move would be a blow to low income households, who rely on cheap imported fruits such as apples and oranges to make up a healthy diet.

However, Anwar ignored such criticism at first and tried to paint a picture that only wealthy people eating avocados would be affected.

But after public pressure continued, he eventually relented and exempted imported apples, oranges, dates, and mandarin oranges from the sales tax.

However, the sales tax expansion is still expected to impact the middle-income group and the small "luxuries" that they used to be able to afford.

There is also nervousness that new electricity tariffs will lead to higher power bills in the peninsula, despite assurances that most households would not be affected.

Judicial crisis

But it's not just bread and butter issues weighing down on Anwar.

The country has been rocked by a judicial scandal that some say threatens to be as bad as the VK Lingam judge fixing saga.

It started with the leak of a police report lodged on behalf of a senior judge.

The report was lodged in response to queries from Malaysiakini over allegations that the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) had questioned him about purported judicial interference.

Concern grew when top judges Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat and Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim were not granted a six-month extension after they reached retirement age.

This fuelled speculation that there was an attempt to meddle with recommendations from the JAC under Tengku Maimun's leadership, as well as purported attempts to elevate the judge accused of interference.

Then came a damning leak of purported JAC meeting minutes that appeared to corroborate the earlier police report.

Nine PKR lawmakers led by Rafizi Ramli are calling for a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) and Parliament to probe the matter.

The Malaysian Bar has also picked up the RCI call and staged a march in Putrajaya yesterday to press the government into upholding judicial integrity.

Anwar’s daughter, PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah, meanwhile, is calling for an independent tribunal of senior judges to investigate the judicial interference claims.

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