Latest news with #Agong
Focus Malaysia
2 days ago
- Politics
- Focus Malaysia
'Agong should delay swearing in of CJ, appellant court president till their appt legality confirmed'
LAWYER Charles Hector has called on the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) to delay the July 28 swearing in ceremony of Chief Justice-appoint Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh and Court of Appeal president Datuk Abu Bakar Jais pending confirmation that their appointments are law abiding. Hector who is also a human rights activist further contended that the crux of the matter is that Prime Minister (PM) Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim 'may have ignored the recommendations of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) to get his own choice of judges to be appointed'. 'If later, it is found that the appointments were illegal for failure to strictly comply with the law, then Wan Farid, Abu Bakar and even Datuk Azizah Nawawi who was appointed as Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak may be embarrassed unnecessarily,' he penned on his latest blog. 'It is best to be duly sure before proceeding with the appointment.' Since, the enactment of the JAC Act 2009, Hector stressed that the Parliament has decided that the sitting PM will have no absolute discretion with regard to appointment of judges. In other words, the PM is restricted from viewing the vetted names of candidates who have been approved and recommended by the JAC. This has to do with the earlier controversies sparked by the Lingam Tape Scandal 2007 which was coincidentally exposed by PMX himself in his then capacity as the de facto PKR president. In a nutshell, the scandal revealed that external parties could and may have influenced the appointment of judges or even the judges that heard certain cases. As solution to the issue, the JAC Act 2009 was tabled. 'The JAC will as soon as a vacancy is apparent start working to identify persons/judges whom they will recommend to the PM who will then advise the Agong to appoint,' stressed Hector who is also the co-founder of NGO Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture (MADPET). 'As the JAC would reasonably act FAST so we don't end up with a vacancy (or a prolonged vacancy), was it PMX who delayed the appointment process after having received the JAC's recommendations? 'Did he fail to advice the Agong to appoint judges when vacancies arise?' On this note, Hector pointed to the following: The nine-month delay in appointing a new Chief Judge of the High Court of Malaya; The delay that caused unfilled vacancies of judges in the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court (more than 29 + 2 vacancies); and The delay in the appointment of the Chief Justice and Court of Appeal president, both of whom had retired by July 2. 'Did PMX ignore the recommendation of the JAC which would reasonably have been made way before the CJ retired (given that there was 16-17 days delay before the appointment of Wan Farid and Abu Bakar),' queried Hector. 'Did PMX cause another JAC to sit thereafter to make new recommendations which may be a breach of the JAC Act 2009? 'Amid these many uncertainties, it's best that ALL these doubts be resolved before the Agong appoints the new Chief Justice or appellant court president.' – July 23, 2025 Main image credit: Media Perpaduan
The Star
4 days ago
- Business
- The Star
King grants royal assent to 20 Acts, including Media Council and Parliamentary Services law
KUALA LUMPUR: The Bernama (Amendment) Act 2025, Parliamentary Services Act 2025, and Malaysian Media Council Act 2025 are among 20 Acts that have received royal assent from His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, the King of Malaysia. Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said other Acts include the Constitution (Amendment) Act 2025, Sabah Labour Ordinance (Amendment) Act 2025, Sarawak Labour Ordinance (Amendment) Act 2025, Labuan Companies (Amendment) Act 2025, and Labuan Trusts (Amendment) Act 2025. Also granted royal assent were the Labuan Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Partnerships (Amendment) Act 2025, Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2025, Online Safety Act 2025, and Commercial Vehicles Licensing Board (Amendment) Act 2025. "The Agong has also assented to the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities (Amendment) Act 2025, Tunku Abdul Rahman Foundation Fund (Amendment) Act 2025, Supplementary Supply (2024) Act 2025, and Constitution (Amendment 2) Act 2025. "Also approved were the Fire Services (Amendment) Act 2025, Government Services Efficiency Commitment Act 2025, and Employees Provident Fund (Amendment) Act 2025," he said during the Dewan Rakyat sitting on Monday (July 21). Separately, in his proclamation at the start of the Second Meeting the same day, Johari announced that the sitting will run for 24 days, with a key focus on the tabling of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP). As such, he said this parliamentary sitting is expected to extend into the night to allow Members of Parliament ample time to debate and discuss the core elements of the 13MP. "Key matters to be debated and considered during this session include Bills, motions related to the 13MP, the Auditor-General's Report 2/2025, and the Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam)," he said. He also thanked all MPs who supported the enactment of the Parliamentary Services Act following its royal assent. He said the Act has restored the autonomy of the Malaysian Parliament, strengthened the country's democracy and reinforced the principle of separation of powers. Johari also reminded all MPs that they are required to undergo health screenings by Nov 7, as implemented in the previous sitting. He said the screenings are crucial in helping them detect early health issues and take prompt preventive measures. The Second Meeting of the Fourth Session of the 15th Parliament begins Monday and runs until Aug 28, with the tabling of the 13MP by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim scheduled for July 31. - Bernama
![[UPDATED] Umno division chiefs urge enforcement of royal addendum for Najib's house arrest](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.nst.com.my%2Fimages%2Farticles%2Flogo_umno_1752763212.jpg&w=3840&q=100)
![[UPDATED] Umno division chiefs urge enforcement of royal addendum for Najib's house arrest](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.nst.com.my%2Fassets%2FNST-Logo%402x.png%3Fid%3Db37a17055cb1ffea01f5&w=48&q=75){kind=small}
New Straits Times
17-07-2025
- Politics
- New Straits Times
[UPDATED] Umno division chiefs urge enforcement of royal addendum for Najib's house arrest
KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 145 Umno division chiefs nationwide, including those from Sabah, have called for the enforcement of a royal addendum decree to allow former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest. They said the decree had already been consented to by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah, and added that there was no longer any excuse to delay its implementation. Wangsa Maju Umno division chief Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Shafei Abdullah said all 145 division leaders are also demanding the Attorney-General withdraw the Federal Court appeal against the Court of Appeal's ruling on Jan 6. "As the government's top legal adviser, the Attorney-General should uphold the King's decree and support justice, not obstruct it. "In addition, all Umno divisions that have yet to convene are urged to table a special motion on the royal addendum during their respective division meetings. "This motion is important as proof of the party's unity and solidarity in defending the Malay Rulers institution and upholding the principle of justice for all," he said. He was speaking at a press conference after the special meeting of Umno division chiefs held at Royale Chulan here today. Among those present were Umno division chiefs Datuk Mohd Nazifuddin Najib (Langkawi), Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (Alor Setar), Datuk Suraya Yaacob (Pendang), Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom (Jerai), Datuk Johan Abdul Aziz (Hulu Langat), and Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (Kemaman). Mohd Shafei said the division chiefs said that this is not merely about an individual but concerns the rule of law, respect for the royal institution, and the principle of justice. The special meeting, among others, discussed grassroots demands within Umno regarding the royal addendum related to Najib. This follows the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) not disputing the existence of the royal addendum, said to be a decree by the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong allowing Najib to serve his sentence under house arrest. Instead, the A-GC challenged the procedure of presenting the decree as new evidence in Najib's judicial review application at the High Court.
Malaysiakini
09-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysiakini
Worth bending knees to 'emperor' Trump?
YOURSAY | 'Nearly every country has been threatened by him.' Trump sends letter to PM, Agong, imposes 25pct tariff on all M'sian products Milshah: First of all, this policy has not been implemented yet. It is a tactic to force countries to make deals with the United States until the new Aug 1 deadline is reached. Whether it will be implemented or not is another story. With US President Donald Trump, things change like changing people, and changing clothes. There is no certainty. Remember, those deals cost an arm and a leg for the countries involved. Trump wants full access to the countries' market, while at the same time, not allowing countries access to the US market. Is it worth it? Is it worth bending the knee to 'Emperor' Trump? Typical bullying tactic. On top of that, if countries were to increase their own tariffs, the US tariffs would go even higher. It goes back to the basic question: does the US need the countries more than the countries need the US? How should Malaysia respond? I am not in favour of Malaysia increasing tariffs on its own. Any increase will affect our imports; they will be more expensive. This will hit the rakyat who are already burdened with the high cost of living. However, I am in favour of 'Buy US last'. Malaysia should as much as possible reduce or not buy from US companies. Government procurements, such as military aircraft and equipment, should put US companies last. This should be the unwritten rule. The issue now is Malaysia's exports and not Malaysia's imports. Malaysia simply needs to increase their exports to other countries. More can be done through China, Japan, South Korea, Asean, Brics, the EU, the Middle East nations, Africa, and so on. We have to accept the fact that the US is now an expensive country to trade with. We must stop being addicted to the US market and go for greater cooperation with other countries. OrangeMouse9413: Do you think Trump cares about anything we have to do or say, save for caving in and bending our knees like a colonised country to the coloniser? Perhaps the majority of Malaysiakini commenters need to get their heads out of the usual standard 'condemn Malaysia' mentality and see that nearly every country in the world has been threatened by Trump. But if you want to continue viewing the issue myopically, then please do not let me stop you from your enjoyment. GrayEagle1207: If only current and past Malaysian governments had focused on developing the local economy, education, and medical care, and training high-skilled workers. If only we instilled fair trade policies, increased equal opportunities for the local populace, curbed wasteful spending, reduced the cabinet size, curbed corruption, nepotism, and cronyism, and wasteful government offices. If we do all that, I am pretty sure Malaysia will be a viable trade partner and will have the skills to negotiate better. As of now, Malaysian politicians, government officials, and influential persons in politics have stolen billions in taxpayer funds for self interest, spent taxpayer monies on failed military equipment, projects, taxing the people even more, justifying wasteful spending, spending time and resources on foreign disputes, sidelining local talents, the list goes on. America, China, and the Middle East countries may be bullies on a global scale, but Malaysia is bullying its own people. Oct: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is useless in getting any reduction after all the self-trumpeting that Malaysia had two rounds of trade negotiation in the US, with our Malaysian delegation contingent comprising the Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and senior officers. They were a waste of money and resources, as the result shows Malaysia is worse off than the initial proposal. In short, it was a holiday trip for the delegation. By right, Anwar should have called Trump directly to negotiate with him via the phone. Unfortunately, nobody in the US government wants to talk to him. This is a high-profile incident as the tariff affects Malaysian products exported to the US. When Malaysia needs Anwar to resolve national interests, he is not around. Anwar prefers to jet around to give lectures, show solidarity with a foreign country, and wants the limelight for fame and glory at the expense of Malaysia's trade and economy. Just look at the Vietnam PM who called up Trump and managed to get a big reduction in tariffs without even having to send a delegation to the US. This is what a good statesperson who loves their country is made of. Anwar is a big disappointment to Malaysia in managing international matters, as it seems nobody listens to rhetorical support for a foreign country. Where in the world does one see a PM who keeps shouting about a foreign crisis when Anwar cannot resolve any of his country's crises? Time to get Anwar out. US tariffs: Opposition hits out, jibes minister's White House run TheAxman: This is nothing but Trump's chaotic management. He was under pressure to do 90 deals in 90 days, but as he ran out of time, he simply decided to copy and paste a number of letters to a number of countries, thus resulting in an arbitrary 25 percent. One can say that Zafrul was ineffective. I just saw it all as a futile exercise in the first place, as Trump's deadline was ridiculous and he was always going to be unpredictable. GanMu: Why should the president of the US meet or entertain the Malaysian delegation when it was headed by a minister? The PM should have been the one to lead the delegation as head of the government. Unfortunately for Malaysia, he is far too busy gallivanting all over the world promoting his religion and visiting mosques under the guise of bringing in investments. Why did he not meet Trump when the Singapore PM met him? He owes us an answer. Our PM's shortcomings have become good brownie points for the opposition. Pink: Zafrul's lackadaisical attitude in the negotiation process is disappointing. All we got from the negotiation is to pay an extra one percent tariff after paying expensive flight and hotel bills for his large entourage. It reminds me of my silly classmate who went to see my maths teacher for an extra mark in a test, but got his mark reduced instead. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Malaysiakini
08-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysiakini
Worth bending knees to 'Emperor' Trump?
YOURSAY | 'Nearly every country has been threatened by him.' Trump sends letter to PM, Agong, imposes 25pct tariff on all M'sian products Milshah: First of all, this policy has not been implemented yet. It is a tactic to force countries to make deals for the United States until the new deadline Aug 1 is up. Whether it will be implemented or not is another story. With US President Donald Trump, things change like changing people, and changing clothes. There is no certainty. Remember, those deals cost an arm and a leg for the countries involved. Trump wants full access to the countries' market, while at the same time, not allowing countries access to the US market. Is it worth it? Is it worth bending the knee to 'Emperor' Trump? Typical bullying tactic. On top of that, if countries were to increase their own tariffs, the US tariffs would go even higher. It goes back to the basic question: does the US need the countries more than the countries need the US? How should Malaysia respond? I am not in favour of Malaysia increasing tariffs on its own. Any increase will affect our imports; they will be more expensive. This will hit the rakyat, who are already burdened with the high cost of living. However, I am in favour of 'Buy US last'. Malaysia should as much as possible reduce or not buy from US companies. Government procurements, such as military aircraft and equipment, should put US companies last. This should be the unwritten rule. The issue now is Malaysia's exports and not Malaysia's imports. Malaysia simply needs to increase their exports to other countries. More can be done through China, Japan, South Korea, Asean, Brics, EU, Middle East nations, Africa, and so on. We have to accept the fact that the US is now an expensive country to trade with. We must stop being addicted to the US market and go for greater cooperation with other countries. OrangeMouse9413: Do you think Trump cares about anything we have to do or say, save for caving in and bending our knees like a colonised country to the coloniser? Perhaps the majority of Malaysiakini commenters need to get their heads out of the usual standard condemn Malaysia mentality and see that nearly every country in the world has been threatened by Trump. But if you want to continue viewing the issue myopically, then please do not let me stop you from your enjoyment. GrayEagle1207: If only current and past Malaysian governments had focused on developing the local economy, education, medical care and trained high-skilled workers. If only we had instilled fair trade policies, increased equal opportunities for the local populace, curbed wasteful spending, reduced cabinet size, curbed corruption, nepotism and cronyism, and wasteful government offices. If we do all that, I am pretty sure Malaysia will be a viable trade partner and will have the skills to negotiate better with its partners. As of now, Malaysian politicians, government officials and political influential persons have stolen billions in taxpayer funds for self interest, spent taxpayer monies on failed military equipment, projects, taxing the people even more, justifying wasteful spending, spending time and resources on foreign disputes, sidelining local talents, the list goes on. America, China and the Middle East countries may be bullies on a global scale, but Malaysia is bullying its own people. Oct: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is useless in getting any reduction after all the self trumpeting that Malaysia had two rounds of trade negotiation in US, with our Malaysian delegation contingent comprising the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and senior officers. They were a waste of money and resources, as the result shows Malaysia is worse off than the initial proposal. In short, it was a holiday trip for the delegation. By right, Anwar should have called Trump directly to negotiate with him via the phone. Unfortunately, nobody in the US government wants to talk with him. This is a high-profile incident as the tariff affects Malaysian products exported to US. When Malaysia needs Anwar to resolve national interests, he is not around. Anwar prefers to jet around to give lectures, show solidarity support for a foreign country and wants the limelight for fame and glory at the expense of Malaysia's trade and economy. Just look at the Vietnam PM who called up Trump and managed to get a big reduction in tariffs without even having to send a delegation to the US. This is what a good statesman who loves his country is made of. Anwar is a big disappointment to Malaysia in managing international matters, as it seems nobody listens to rhetorical support for a foreign country. Where in the world does one see a PM who keeps shouting about a foreign crisis when Anwar cannot resolve any of his country's crises? Time to get Anwar out. US tariffs: Opposition hits out, jibes minister's White House run TheAxman: This is nothing but Trump's chaotic management. He was under pressure to do 90 deals in 90 days, but as he ran out of time, he simply decided to copy and paste a number of letters to a number of countries, thus resulting in an arbitrary 25 percent. One can say that Zafrul was ineffective. I just saw it all as a futile exercise in the first place, as Trump's deadline was ridiculous and he was always going to be unpredictable. GanMu: Why should the president of the US meet or entertain the Malaysian delegation when it was headed by a minister? PM should have been the one to lead the delegation as head of the government. Unfortunately for Malaysia, he is far too busy gallivanting all over the world promoting his religion and visiting mosques under the guise of bringing in investments. Why did he not meet President Trump when the Singapore PM met him? He owes us an answer. PM's shortcomings have become good brownie points for the opposition. Pink: Zafrul's lackadaisical attitude in the negotiation process is disappointing. All that we got from the negotiation is to pay an extra one percent tariff after paying expensive flight and hotel bills for his large entourage. It reminds me of my silly classmate who went to see my maths teacher for an extra mark in a test, but got his mark reduced instead. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
