SNAPSHOT | LRT3 line: Govt to meet S'gor ruler; Umno leader urges halt to DAP's push for local council polls

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

Latest:

Maszlee dodges Johor MB candidate poser; new hospital to be built in Nilai

9am

LRT3 Shah Alam Line

• The government will seek an audience with the Selangor ruler, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, to clarify the LRT3 Shah Alam Line following the ruler's remarks over the project's cost and delays.

  Bernama reported Transport Minister Anthony Loke saying that the government accepted Sultan Sharafuddin's views and would explain the circumstances surrounding the project's implementation.

  Yesterday, former finance minister Lim Guan Eng and his ex-aide Tony Pua defended their decisions to slash the LRT3 project's budget during their time in office back in 2018, after the Selangor ruler accused the duo of cutting the project's funding without due consideration for the public.

  The DAP leaders said the cuts were needed to rein in ballooning costs without hurting passenger demand, arguing the move could ultimately save RM10 billion in interest.

READ MORE: LRT3: Guan Eng, Pua, respectfully counter sultan's drubbing

KL mayoral election

• Umno supreme council member Razlan Rafii welcomed a study by the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) which concluded that the proposal to reintroduce local council elections should be rejected.

  He said that following this, DAP must remove local council elections from its party manifesto and stop pursuing their implementation in the future.

  

  Razlan argued that city administrations require professionalism, efficiency and continuity, and that placing politicians in executive decision-making roles in the day-to-day management of local authorities risks creating opportunities for abuse of power, conflicts of interest and decisions driven more by political considerations than the public interest.

  He also claimed that the DAP's push for local council elections was politically motivated, alleging that it is intended to strengthen the party's influence in urban areas with a particular voter composition.

READ MORE: IIUM study torpedoes KL mayor polls, no appointed councillors either

Azam Baki

• Muda president Amira Aisya Abd Aziz has questioned how former MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki, who was implicated in a share ownership scandal and “corporate mafia” allegations, could be appointed as an adviser on financial crime matters.

  Azam had previously denied the allegations linking him to the issues.

  In a video on Threads, Amira also asked who appointed Azam to the National Financial Crime Centre (NFCC) advisory role, and whether Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made the appointment.

  

  "So I am asking all the parties that form the Madani government today to answer these questions. Do not hide behind the PMX (prime minister)," she said.

  Yesterday, opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin also questioned the government’s justification for appointing Azam to the role.

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