Latheefa appointed MACC chief, and 7 other things that happened yesterday

KINI ROUNDUP | Here are key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

1. Former PKR legal bureau chief Latheefa Koya has been appointed as the new MACC chief commissioner, while her predecessor Mohd Shukri Abdull said he has completed his mission of putting the commission on the right track.

2. Although Latheefa has resigned her PKR membership, concerns about MACC’s image and impartiality following her appointment still persist.

3. Meanwhile, NGO leaders such as Ambiga Sreenevasan, Cynthia Gabriel and Thomas Fann hailed Latheefa’s appointment, while PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan hopes Latheefa’s first task would be to investigate Sarawak Governor Abdul Taib Mahmud.

4. In conjunction with Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, both the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad separately issued Aidilfitri addresses emphasising peace in Malaysia.

5. Former federal court judge Gopal Sri Ram has suggested that the government should hold an internal inquiry into the allegations of judicial misconduct instead of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, as an RCI would violate the doctrine of separation of powers.

6. The National Higher Education Fund Corporation’s Public Consultation Independent Advisory Panel chairperson Sheikh Shahruddin Sheikh Salim said it is a “common misinformation” that Pakatan Harapan had promised to do away with PTPTN repayments altogether.

7. A “Datuk Seri” accused of brawling with a restaurateur has challenged the police for barring his lawyer from being present when he was being questioned.

8. Australian rare earth mining company Lynas expressed disappointment that anti-Lynas activists made misleading claims about groundwater surrounding its plant in Gebeng, after government monitoring vindicated its claims.