Good morning. Here's what you need to know today.

Key Highlights

  • GLC carrot: Muhyiddin off the hook

  • Govt not paying overdue 'rent' for Sabah

  • Push to codify ban on unilateral conversion






GLC carrot: Muhyiddin off the hook

Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin is off the hook over an audio recording purportedly of him suggesting his party lures Umno MPs away by offering them GLC positions.

De facto Law Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the MACC found no element of wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, Pasir Salak MP Tajuddin Abdul Rahman - who was appointed as Prasarana chairperson after the Sheraton move - is also off the hook over abuse of power allegations.

Wan Junaidi said MACC found no evidence to support such allegations.

The probe was initiated after Tajuddin was accused of, among other matters, pulling strings in a project that a family-linked company was involved in.

HIGHLIGHTS

'Abah' says 'convict Bossku' talking nonsense

Muhyiddin denies responsibility for Najib's resurgence

Johor polls: Muhyiddin positions PN as 'clean' option






Govt not paying overdue 'rent' on Sabah

Descendants of the Sulu sultanate are seeking overdue "rent" payments from Putrajaya for the lease on Sabah.

The lease agreement for a payment of RM5,300 per year, was signed 85 years before the Malaysia Agreement between the Sulu Sultanate and European colonisers.

Malaysia took over paying the lease but stopped payments after the 2013 Sulu incursion into Lahad Datu.

The Sulu sultanate descendants then took the case to a Spanish arbitrator, which ordered Putrajaya to pay a whopping RM62.59 billion in late dues.

Putrajaya in response said it doesn’t recognise neither the Sulu's claims nor the Spanish arbiter's decision.

HIGHLIGHTS

Ex-AG warned about Sulu repayment

M’sia backs UN resolution on Ukraine

Khazanah: Ukraine-Russia war driving up commodity prices





Push to codify ban on unilateral conversion

Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz wants the government to amend the Federal Constitution to put an end to unilateral conversion of children.

This pertains to the Bahasa Malaysia version which defines parent as "ibu atau bapa" (mother or father).

Nazri said unilateral conversions were unjust and reflected badly on Islam.

The Federal Court has already ruled that in unilateral conversion, parent should be defined as both mother and father.

However, this has not stopped advocates for unilateral conversion - including PAS - from trying to push for states to use their right over religious matters to define parent in the singular form.

This is despite federal law superceding state law in matters where there are discrepancies.

HIGHLIGHTS

PN yet to formulate position on unilateral conversion

Crowdfunding campaign to help Loh buy a food truck

Malacca govt: Let parents take leave if kids quarantined




What else is happening?

  • Former Goldman Sachs banker Tim Leissner testified that Jho Low claimed to have contacted Jared Kushner to drop 1MDB related charges when Kushner's father-in-law, Donald Trump, was US president.

  • Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak argued that the government should not claim that 1MDB had damaged the country's finances as not a single sen of public funds had been used to pay off 1MDB's debts.

  • Johor BN deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamad said it was his idea to rope in Najib to help MCA campaign during the state election.

  • Pakatan Harapan was slapped with an RM3,000 fine for failing to adhere to SOPs during a ceramah in Johor.

  • MCA's Johor Jaya candidate Chan San San tried to campaign subtly at a government food aid distribution ceremony, where recipients were urged to vote for her, without mentioning her party.

  • Warisan has defended its decision to contest in opposition held seats in Johor, as the party continued firefighting on the campaign trail.

  • SPM students who are undergoing Covid-19 quarantine can sit for their exams in April instead.

HIGHLIGHTS

Mahathir to join Johor campaign despite doctor's warning

PBM to support any party that wins Johor polls

Glovemakers suffered RM3.6b losses due to US import ban





What are people saying?

RM63b award to Sulu sultan’s descendants - an interesting situation
By Roger Ng

Explaining Russian aggression is not an endorsement
By P Ramasamy

Baffled by Gerak Independent’s GE15 move
By Malaysiakini readers