Good morning. Here's what you should know today.
Key Highlights
Grave note to rise up voters
Post-mortem points to murder’
Polls not Najib’s ticket to freedom
Grave note to rise up voters
PKR member Shamsul Iskandar Akin has taken a dark approach to campaigning for the Johor polls, transporting voters into his version of beyond the veil when he delivered a message talkin-style in hopes it’ll sink in.
In a video, Shamsul, clad in a white robe under sombre lighting and with an echoing voice for the full effect, assured voters not to be afraid when approached by BN, Perikatan Nasional, and Parti Bersama Malaysia as they too are just God's creatures.
The former aide to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim not only encouraged voters to accept bribes from those parties, but to squeeze as much as they can, so long as they still vote for Pakatan Harapan come polling day.
"When you are given RM100, ask for RM500,” he said.
The video, however, did not go down well with the living. Many netizens and even politicians criticised what they saw as an insensitive take on the Islamic ritual traditionally held at a gravesite after a burial. He has since deleted the video.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
‘Post-mortem points to murder’
New post-mortem findings have intensified scrutiny over the police’s claim of self-defence in the fatal shooting of three men in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, last year.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, representing the victims' families, said the reports showed two of the men were shot in the head and another in the chest, with evidence suggesting the shots were fired from very close range.
"This is murder," he further claimed, with the families calling for the officers involved to be arrested for murder, while also demanding answers from the government over apparent months of inaction.
Following this, DAP chairperson Gobind Singh Deo yet again pressed the attorney-general on the case, this time calling for an explanation for the long wait for justice after eight months since the incident.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
Polls not Najib’s ticket to freedom
Several Umno leaders have panned attempts to link a BN victory in the Johor polls to the possible release of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak from prison.
The suggestion has come from both sides of the political divide, with Najib’s own son, Langkawi Umno chief Nazifuddin, saying a big BN win in Johor would signal the public’s continued support for his father and hopes of a royal pardon.
“If anyone wants to resign over it, they should resign now instead of waiting until after we win,” he said alluding to DAP minister Nga Kor Ming who warned that he would be the first to quit the cabinet if Najib is freed.
Umno secretary-general Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki called it misleading to suggest Najib’s fate could be decided by any election result, while party information chief Azalina Othman Said stressed the power to grant a pardon rests solely with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
HIGHLIGHTS
 | |
 | |
 |
Views that matter
 | By S Thayaparan |
 | By Azrul Mohd Khalib |
 | By Murale Pillai |
In case you missed it
 | |
 | |
 | |
 |
More worth reading
 | |
 | |
 |
