Anwar 'cautiously confident' of PM candidacy and 9 news from yesterday

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

1. In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini, PKR president Anwar Ibrahim argued that the lack of check-and-balance necessitates a regime change before the 15th general election is called, and he is “cautiously confident” that Pakatan Harapan and its allies will name him as their candidate for prime minister.

2. Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali claimed that he has “a lot more” to tell in his upcoming memoir, while former judge Gopal Sri Ram reportedly kept mum on Apandi’s claim that he (Gopal) had tried to convince him (Apandi) to play a role in the then-prime minister Najib Abdul Razak’s arrest in 2018.

3. A Facebook page aligned with former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad leaked yet another audio clip that is purported to be from Bersatu’s supreme council meeting on Feb 23. A voice resembling that of party president Muhyiddin Yassin is heard telling a group of people that the Yang di-Pertuan Agong preferred Mahathir over Anwar as prime minister.

4. Warisan president Mohd Shafie Apdal claimed that former minister Anifah Aman had on three times tried to coax former minister Mohamaddin Ketapi to switch sides. Mohamaddin downplayed this as a “normal” occurrence and said he remains loyal to Warisan, while Anifah said Mohamaddin frequently solicited his advice on Sabah matters as former schoolmates.

5. Three Bersatu leaders and two from PAS will be sworn in as senators on Tuesday next week, including former ministers Rais Yatim and Radzi Sheikh Ahmad.

6. Sabah Infrastructure Development Minister Peter Anthony has pleaded not guilty to charges of money laundering involving RM8.75 million.

7. The Parliament complex will be closed to visitors for the duration of the recovery moment control order period, but the sitting scheduled for July will go on.

8. National Union of Workers in Hospital Support and Allied Services (NUWHSAS) executive secretary M Sarasvathy urged the government to intervene and absorb hospital cleaners as public servants to avoid abuse.

9. All public transport systems will be allowed to operate at full capacity, including airlines.

10. Malaysia will declare itself free of Covid-19 only if it goes 28 days without recording a single case of the disease. There were 31 new cases of Covid-19 reported yesterday, including 11 imported cases.