SNAPSHOT | Hadi on Hamzah's return as opposition leader 'no surprise'; Zaid urged to state hudud stand

KINI SNAPSHOT | What’s going on in the news today, with updates at 9am, 2pm, 6pm and 9pm.

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Opposition leader

• Gerakan information chief Wendy Subramaniam has defended PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s move to announce Larut MP Hamzah Zainudin’s return as parliamentary opposition leader.

  "... when Hadi made the announcement (at Reset Malaysia Convention in Kelantan on Saturday), even though there had been no prior discussion (by Perikatan Nasional supreme council), we were not surprised," she was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.

  Hadi previously claimed the decision was reached after discussion between PAS and other opposition MPs.

  Following Hamzah’s sacking from Bersatu, he was replaced as opposition leader by Kemaman MP Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who is also PN chairperson.

New PAS members

• Amanah secretary-general Faiz Fadzil has challenged former minister Zaid Ibrahim to clarify whether he has changed his stance on hudud laws after joining PAS.

  

  In a statement today, Faiz questioned whether Zaid was prepared to apologise to PAS for his 2002 legal challenge, filed as then Kota Bharu Umno division chief, against the Kelantan Syariah Criminal Code (II) Enactment 1990.

  He also questioned whether Zaid's involvement with PAS was part of an effort to liberalise the Islamist party.

  "Is PAS prepared to abandon its hudud struggle if it is successfully liberalised?" Faiz asked.

  Zaid, who later withdrew his suit, had sought a declaration that Kelantan and Terengganu had no power to legislate the Islamic criminal law, including hudud.

READ MORE: A weary Zaid to let others challenge hudud in court

• Former Lembah Pantai Bersatu division chief Muqharabbin Mokhtarrudin has defended his decision to join PAS, rejecting claims that the move was motivated by personal gains.

  In an online post, Muqharabbin, also an Umno Youth exco member until 2022, said his political track record showed he had repeatedly sacrificed positions rather than sought them.

  

  "If I entered politics for positions, power or wealth, I would have left Umno in 2018," he said, recalling how he remained with the BN component when it was in opposition following its defeat in the 14th general election.

  He pointed out that he also remained loyal to Hamzah after the latter's expulsion from Bersatu and was among the first division leaders aligned with the Reset movement to dissolve his division.

  According to him, he had been tipped for a more senior role in Hamzah’s new party, but instead chose to join PAS as an ordinary member.

Iran conflict

• Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said early on Monday that a memorandum of understanding between the Islamic Republic and the US had been finalised and would be officially signed on Friday, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

  He said the formal signing ceremony for the MOU would take place in Geneva, Switzerland, according to remarks carried by Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency.

  The lifting of the US naval blockade against Iran would begin on Sunday night US time, he added.

  

  According to Gharibabadi, Iranian officials will explain the various dimensions and achievements of the agreement through public media before the signing ceremony.

  US President Donald Trump confirmed on Sunday that a deal with Iran had been completed and announced the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz along with the lifting of the US naval blockade.

• Trump on Sunday criticised an Israeli attack on Beirut, asserting that the strike should not have occurred while Washington is on the verge of a peace agreement with Iran, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

  "This morning’s attack on Beirut should not have happened, particularly on a special day when we are so close to a peace deal," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

  In urging all parties to avoid disrupting the diplomatic process, he reportedly said, "We are very close to a deal that will bring peace to the region, including to Lebanon.”

  He also called for an immediate halt to all Israeli attacks in Lebanon, as well as a cessation of strikes by Hezbollah.

  

  Earlier, the US news website Axios, citing Israeli and US officials, claimed Israel had informed US Central Command before the Beirut attack.

• Iran’s football team arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday after a short flight from Tijuana, Mexico, where they left their World Cup base camp earlier to a rousing sendoff ahead of their opening match against New Zealand, Reuters reported.

  The squad’s Group G fixture against New Zealand will be played at the Los Angeles Stadium today, against the backdrop of the US war with Iran, adding a charged atmosphere to a contest between two nations who have never met at the World Cup.

  

  Iran moved their World Cup base camp from a sports complex in Arizona to Mexico late last month after the US and Israel conducted joint strikes on Iran beginning in late February.

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