🎶 Lonely, I'm Mr Lonely 🎶

Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman and his Muda crew have tried for yonks (read: from before the 15th general election) to formalise their union with Pakatan Harapan (PH).

They've made pleas and dispatched love letters, but to no avail. Worse, the youth-based party's had to endure the very public insult of constantly being left out of unity gomen get-togethers (see here, here and here).

So, it oughta come as no surprise that Muda's now decided enough's enough, and that it'll be flying solo in the coming 6 state elections. 

To jog your memory, headbro Syed S and his young women and men party mates have become increasingly critical of PMX Anwar Ibrahim & Co., and just this weekend, even called out our inglorious leader over certain purportedly sexist remarks. They've also gotten into several spats with the big kid in the sandbox, PKR.

Sayeth Muda, though, the decision to break from PH isn't due to outsiders, it's most certainly not aligned with PM4/7 Dr Mahathir Mohamad (more on him later), and that its recent highlighting of issues was simply due to PH not fulfilling reform promises despite being back in power.

Still, a potential outcome of Muda's solo decision is clashes with PH and Barisan Nasional (BN) in the coming polls, leading to split votes.

See, Malaysia practices the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) electoral system i.e. where a candidate with a simple majority of votes wins. So, split support for Muda and BN-PH could benefit opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN).

In any case, Muda and PSM — another party that's been repeatedly given the cold shoulder by PH — are looking to discuss an electoral pact for the upcoming polls. And in the meantime, if you fancy being a (potential) YB, you'd be pleased to know that SS & crew are opening election candidate applications to the public.

And in more political/election news...

• The other 5 have done it already, and tomorrow, July 1, Negeri Sembilan joins the gang and becomes the 6th and final state to dissolve its legislature. BT-Dubs, PN tauke Muhyiddin Yassin's promised that both N9 and Selangor will get Bersatu menteris besar if the oppo wins those currently PH-held states. 
   
• He may or may not have designs on Penang and being named PN's chief minister should the oppo win, but Gerakan bossman Dominic Lau will 1st have to deal with internal elections and a potential fight for the party boss position.
   
• PAS's successes/GE15 gains are being viewed in a negative light, according to party head honcho Abdul Hadi Awang. And the constant use of "Green Wave" by DAP especially is Islamophobic. Right, so, once again it's DAP's fault. 
  
  BT-Dubs, Speaking of PAS, political analyst Dr Bridget Welsh takes a good hard look at the Islamist party in her final column for BTL 😭
   
• And finally, what's an election without Dr M weighing in? And what's the old codger on about now? Only that the country's doomed if Umno gains more power and that people "from other countries" (read: non-Malays/non-Muslims) had wanted to change Malaysia's name before.

Same-same not different

Syed S's rant about supposed unfulfilled promises (see above) suggests that the more things change in Malaysia, the more they stay the same. And the following stories prove that he's kinda, sorta right...

You've been warned

Once upon not so long ago, those in power would routinely warn ordinary Malaysians for speaking out of turn (see here for an example). And it sure seemed like those dark days were back when Comms Minister Fahmi Fadzil decided to (allegedly! allegedly!) "threaten" viewers of a livestream with police action.

Thing is, Fahmi's claimed he wasn't threatening anyone for criticising him/the gomen. Rather, 'twas a "reminder" to those who'd touched on 3R (Race, Religion, Royalty) issues in their comments that they were being monitored.

That may be true (we’re still filing this under Things Not To Say Before Elections). But what's curious is that news portal MalaysiaNow, which first ran the story on Fahmi's alleged threat/not threat, was strangely inaccessible to users a day later.

Fahmi sayeth, of course, he never ordered for any news website to be blocked. But a number of folks have suggested that DNS tampering, a method commonly used by internet service providers to censor online content, was being utilised. 

In any event, the portal's back online.

How low can you go?

The ringgit's continuing to perform badly and apparently, it's all 'cos of global factors, such as China's current economic slump. But Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) said it'll intervene in the foreign exchange (forex) market to stem the tide.

Now, it ain't exactly clear what this intervention entails. But the indication is that a currency peg's not on the cards for the mo.

BT-Dubs, Econs Minister Rafizi Ramli has decided to blame the current sad/worrying state of affairs on Malaysian exporters not repatriating their foreign currency earnings. Right. So it's their fault. And nothing to do with certain gomen people whom Malaysians had pinned their hopes on.

Shorts circuit

Remember, remember how non-Muslim hairdressers in PAS-ruled Kelantan were once fined for attending to customers of the opposite gender? Well, a Kota Bahru shopowner's now been issued with a compound for wearing shorts, beneath an oversized t-shirt, in her own shop!

Now, the local council has, unsurprisingly, defended its move, as have PAS peeps. But the issue could well become an issue of rights and liberties of non-Muslims, and also, whether the council had even acted lawfully in the 1st place. Also, also, as one minister sayeth, this kind of BS (our words!), if it keeps happening, could seriously affect Malaysia's appeal as a tourist destination. 

The rest of the news...

And here, folks, are some other highlights from the week's news you oughta know about:

• PAS' Kuala Terengganu MP Ahmad Amzad Hashim has had his GE15 win nullified after the Election Court found there to have been elements of bribery. The PAS man has 14 days to appeal the decision, otherwise, the seat will be vacated and a by-election called.
   
• Incidentally, PAS chieftain Abdul Hadi Awang's Marang parliamentary seat is safe. Like Ahmad, Hadi's win had been similarly challenged by BN. However, the Terengganu Election Court dismissed the case, ruling that BN's Jasmira Othman had failed to raise reasonable doubt.
   
• 17 men charged with rioting at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang in 2018 have been freed by the Petaling Jaya Magistrates' Court, which ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove its case. To jog your memory, the 2018 incident, which is said to have been sparked by a planned relocation of the temple, resulted in dozens of vehicles being torched and several people injured. It also led to the death of firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.
   
• Our final newsletter wouldn't be complete without a last Crony Watch entry, and as fate would have it, we have 5 political appointments to highlight this week.
  
  There're the appointments of former foreign minister Anifah Aman as Labuan Corp chairperson and Labuan PKR chief Simsudin Sidek as his deputy; the elevation of Pahang PKR adviser and ex-MP Fauzi Abdul Rahman to the role of MyHSR chair; Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's former Aide Romli Ishak as chairperson of Cyberview (the GLC in charge of developing Cyberjaya); and, finally, and ex-Umno minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek (not DAP's Teresa Kok) as Felda boss.
   
• The Hague Court of Appeal in the Netherlands has rejected the final arbitration award of US$14.9bil handed to those pesky supposed, purported Sulu Sultanate heirs. Basically, the court ruled that there'd been no agreement between the now-defunct Sulu Sultanate and the British North Borneo Company to settle matters via arbitration. Also, also, the arbitrator lacked the authority to preside over the case. But the long and short of it is that this means the heirs can't seize Malaysian assets. Huzzah!
   
• The Federal Court has ruled that amendments made to a law regarding civil service pensions are unconstitutional. Tl;dr the amendment had introduced a flat rate increment of 2% per annum, rather than a revision based on the prevailing salaries of incumbent civil servants in the same grade.
   
• The Covid-19 pandemic mayn't have officially ended. But from July 5, Malaysians will no longer be required to mask up on public transportation and at healthcare facilities. High-risk folks should still take precautions, though.