Constitutional showdown

Good morning, here’s a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.


Key Highlights

• Constitutional showdown
  
  

• MAS flight malfunction
  
  

• 1MDB conviction

Constitutional showdown

The Dewan Rakyat will see a key vote to amend the Federal Constitution today, which the government said is necessary to enable a future anti-hopping law but critics are worried its vague wording will be open to abuses.

The government held a briefing on the constitutional amendment yesterday but only a handful of opposition MPs were present.

The majority were at a separate briefing where they discussed the concerns of abuse. Even some government MPs, such as Umno's Pengerang MP Azalina Othman, expressed worry.

Until the 11th hour yesterday, the opposition MPs have yet to make public if they will support the constitutional amendment, keeping their cards close to their chest for the special Parliament sitting today.

The special sitting was initially called to pass an anti-hopping bill but the bill is being postponed due to disagreements in the government, with Bersatu seeking a more "durable version".

As a result, the government now plans to proceed with a constitutional amendment first to "enable" the anti-party hopping legislation which will only be tabled in July.

The concerns stem from the wording of the constitutional amendment that will allow laws to be created to restrict the freedom of association in relation to an elected representative’s political party affiliation, which critics said can be used for much more than just preventing party-hopping.

Bersih has proposed the wording be changed to specifically state that the restriction on the freedom of association should only relate to those who change their political party after an election.

Whether the government is prepared to adjust the amendment and if the opposition will back the change which requires a two-thirds majority, will be known later today.



HIGHLIGHTS

	PKR leader says Hadi's 'baiah' solution for defectors 'misleading' He questions how will it be applied.
	PN must be consulted on date to dissolve Parliament - Muhyiddin Ismail Sabri also stressed on cooperation with PN.
	Saifuddin: Harapan open to discussions with all parties He says results from state elections shows need to involve others.

MAS flight malfunction

The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) released its preliminary review of Malaysia Airlines flight MH2664, which departed from Kuala Lumpur and was bound for Tawau on April 3 but had to turn back due to a technical issue.

The CAAM found the aircraft was being shown wrong speed information due to a malfunction that caused the aircraft to tilt upwards and its autopilot to become deactivated.

It said this prompted the pilot to make an "abrupt input" in order to regain control of the aircraft, which explained the "diving" sensation some passengers say they experienced.

“I am sure the plane was in a diving position. At that time, only death came to mind with other passengers screaming and crying,” a passenger had said.

Following the incident, CAAM said the affected aircraft is grounded and tests will be conducted on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft in MAS' fleet.



HIGHLIGHTS

	Envoy: Household must earn above RM7k to hire domestic worker Minimum income must be double that to hire second worker.
	Ex-cult leader who imprisoned M’sian dies in prison He kept M'sian Siti Aishah Abdul Wahab captive.
	Kg Baru residents heartbroken over eviction near Ramadan Sungai Baru flat residents must vacate homes in 42 days.

1MDB conviction

A US jury found former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng guilty of conspiracy to violate an anti-corruption law and money laundering with regard to 1MDB funds.

Following the conviction, Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng urged attorney-general Idrus Harun to proceed with criminal action against Ng, who is a Malaysian, in the Malaysian courts.

Ng's Malaysian trial was put on hold pending the US case but Lim said there was no necessity to wait for Ng to exhaust all his appeals in the US.

Meanwhile, ex-prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin also called for the 1MDB trials in Malaysia to be expedited.



HIGHLIGHTS

	RM50k wooden jetty in Miri: Netizens take JKR Sarawak to task They say a small wooden jetty shouldn't cost that much.
	Petronas confirms employee arrested by MACC Graft buster arrests junior-level executive.
	High Court quashes Poca detention against Alvin Goh He previously escaped MACC.

What else is happening?

• Sarawak will issue temporary documents to stateless children applying for citizenship in order to grant them access to education and healthcare.
  
  

• The Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) received a royal rebuke for commenting on whether a particular Islamic school of thought was "deviant". The Selangor ruler said it was beyond their jurisdiction as the matter lies with the National Council for Islamic Religious Affairs which he chairs and the conference of rulers.
  
  

• Booksellers have expressed concern that the National Book Council of Malaysia is entering into the bookselling business, stating that it would give the government entity an unfair advantage.
  
  

• The Education Ministry said it will investigate reports of exam questions being recycled for the SPM repeat examination.
  
  

• The rotation system for primary school attendance due to Covid-19 will end on April 17.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	Special needs mom brings adaptive apparel to M’sian fashion Necessity, creativity prompted Dawn Adaptive.
	Missing teen Dutch diver dead, father says The victim's father said he died of exhaustion.
	Chin Tong is new Johor opposition leader He is also the Perling assemblyperson.

What are people saying?

	Where did the billions in Najib's accounts come from? By R Nadeswaran
	My childhood fasting experience - at home and at school By Fa Abdul
	Disagreement on anti-hopping bill nothing unusual By Hanipa Maidin