Good morning, here’s what you need to know today.
Key Highlights
Rosmah's pink diamond
Border reopening protocols
Special Parliament sitting
Rosmah's pink diamond
The issue of the infamous pink diamond for Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, came up in the US trial of former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, who is accused of bribery and money laundering involving 1MDB funds.
Prestigious New York jeweller Lorraine Schwartz, in a statement submitted to a US court, revealed she secured a US$23 million (RM97 million) deal to sell Rosmah Mansor a 22-carat diamond necklace.
The evidence provided by Schwartz contradicted Najib's claim in 2018 that the diamond necklace was a gift from United Arab Emirates’ Sheikh Mansour Zayed.
Schwartz said she personally delivered the necklace to Rosmah aboard a yacht, with businessperson Low Take Jho present, off the coast of Monaco.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | Gopal Sri Ram and Shafee Abdullah duel. |
 | It involves a sum of RM42 million. |
 | Muar MP pleads not guilty to both charges. |
Border reopening protocols
The Health Ministry has detailed the protocols as the country is set to fully reopen its international borders on April 1, more than two years since they were shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The procedure is largely similar to the limited bilateral travel arrangements - or Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) - which Malaysia has with Singapore.
This includes requiring PCR test results two days prior to departure and travel insurance.
However, with the full reopening, non-vaccinated individuals will also be allowed to enter the country but they must undergo a five-day quarantine. The fully vaccinated are exempted.
Similarly, Singapore also lifted most restrictions for fully vaccinated visitors to the country and also dropped mask requirements for outdoors.
In a separate development, Health Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said he would clarify with the European Union (EU) after reports of Malaysians being denied entry due to their Sinovac Covid-19 vaccination which is not recognised.
In Malaysia, some two million Sinovac vaccine recipients who have yet to receive their booster shot are set to lose their fully vaccinated status on April 1.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | Products containing cannabis should be registered with the DCA. |
 | Taliban appears more open this time. |
 | Rules relaxed for healthcare workers. |
Special Parliament sitting
Parliament will convene a special sitting on April 11 to table the anti-party hopping bill.
This is to avoid violating the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the government and Pakatan Harapan, which required the bill to be approved by the first meeting of the 5th Parliament session - which ended yesterday.
If not for the special sitting, the bill will have to wait until July 18 for the second Parliament meeting.
However, some Umno leaders, including its president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, want the MOU binned after opposition MPs defeated a government motion to renew a Security Offences (Special Measures) 2012 Act (Sosma) provision that provides for detention without trial.
It must be renewed every five years and the current expiry date is July 31.
Zahid, who is the BN whip - a position to ensure MPs turn up to vote, was absent during the voting. Perikatan Nasional whip Azmin Ali was also absent.
While some government MPs expect a blank cheque from Harapan, the opposition coalition’s undertaking under the MOU is not to vote against matters that could lead to the collapse of the government.
This includes the budget and no-confidence votes. Voting down a regular government bill has no bearing on the government's survival.
In a separate development, the Dewan Rakyat approved a constitutional amendment to exclude royals from voting.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | Ex-MP says opposition should forget returning to power for now. |
 | New DAP sec-gen says he will prove that he can lead the party. |
 | He claims the Gombak division torpedoed the Harapan govt. |
What else is happening?
Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah wrote to US secretary of state Antony Blinken in Bahasa Malaysia in a symbolic move to elevate the national language. He added that the government will also train a team of translators for when officials speak Bahasa Malaysia abroad.
PAS spiritual leader Hashim Jasin and Putra president Ibrahim Ali were among leaders who proposed that DAP's Lim Kit Siang be honoured by the government following his retirement from politics. Some Umno leaders, however, disagreed.
The World Bank says Malaysia requires structural economic reforms in order to increase its productivity.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | PSM leader is aware that change may not happen in his lifetime. |
 | They want unfairly terminated riders to be reinstated. |
 | They want to seek more details on SWN stake offered. |
What are people saying?
 | By Wong Chin Huat |
 | By R Nadeswaran |
 | By S Thayaparan |
