PERWI

Fairus Khairuddin, the Penang deputy chief minister, has quit, confirming swirling speculation about his position amid a cloud of suspicion over his conduct.

The PKR man submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of the DAP, and it has been accepted.

Lim made the announcement at a press conference in Penang today.

However, the CM declined to disclose the reasons for Fairus’s resignation.[more]

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has set March 27 to hear Perak Speaker V Sivakumar’s suit against the Election Commission for not holding by-elections in three state constituencies that he declared vacant.

Justice Lau Bee Lan allowed the postponement sought by Sivakumar’s lawyers because there were several other on-going legal cases related to the incident, which had sparked the events leading to the current constitutional impasse in the north-western state.[more]

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang will announce the party’s candidate for the parliamentary by-election in Bukit Gantang, Perak, on Monday.

“We will hold a meeting on March 23 and announce the name of the candidate at night,” said PAS election director Mustafa Ali today.

“From the information I have received, the PAS election machinery is running smoothly. There is minor improvement to be made before the by-election.”[more]

In the early 1960s, the Philippines was an economic power. In fact, during the era, the archipelago nation boasted one of the largest economies in Asia, behind only Japan.

Today, while it remains an important part of Asean and the world community at large, it's safe to say that those glory days are long over. When most outsiders think of the Philippines today, it is political instability, economic struggle, crime and corruption that often come to mind.

Those insisting on science and maths continuing to be taught in English here, take note: the Philippines uses English as a medium of instruction. But when fundamental issues are neglected, failure is a word that exists in any language.

In such difficult circumstances, it's no surprise that resourceful Filipinos have looked for opportunities abroad. About 8 per cent of the country's population are employed as migrant labour outside the Philippines. The people are willing to work. Unfortunately, the jobs are elsewhere.[more]

They had earlier refused to give their statements to the police on their decision on Feb 18 to suspend Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and his six executive council members from the assembly.

Four committee members — DAP’s Ong Boon Piow (Tebing Tinggi), Loke Chee Yan (Kepayang) and Sum Cheok Leng (Bercham) and PKR’s Chan Ming Kai — turned up at the Perak Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters here at about 11.30am in compliance with the commission’s summons.[more]

With a week to go before the polls, they are concerned that party delegates previously aligned to Ali are now throwing their support behind Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, instead of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, their preferred choice as the party number two and deputy prime minister.

Several Umno divisional chiefs, warlords and opinion makers told The Malaysian Insider that they have been contacted in the past 24 hours by aides and supporters of Najib, urging them to go down to the ground and douse fires of revolt among party delegates who are upset at the action taken by the Umno disciplinary board against Ali.[more]

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was forced today to dispel swirling rumours that he had asked PKR’s Penang deputy chief minister Fairus Khairuddin to resign amid a cloud of suspicion.

But The Malaysian Insider understands that Anwar is planning to announce Fairus’s resignation at a public rally in Bukit Gantang, Perak tonight.

Anwar appeared uneasy when asked by reporters in Parliament about speculation over Fairus’s position.

“As far as I know, Fairus is carrying out his duties and is on leave for a few days,” he replied when asked to confirm the rumours.[more]

The re-demarcation of the Malaysia-Brunei border will be carried out to resolve various border issues including that of Limbang, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim said today.

He said the issue of Limbang would be regarded as resolved once the exchange of border agreements signed by both countries was finalised.

Dr Rais made these comments in response to an article in The Borneo Bulletin and the Brunei Times on the status of Limbang. [more]

He was responding to YB Dato Paduka Hj Puasa bin Orang Kaya Seri Pahlawan Tudin's query on the contents of the "Letter of Exchange" signed between Brunei and Malaysia, which also touched on Brunei's claims over Limbang at the Legislative Council meeting yesterday.

Pehin Lim said there were certain press reports yesterday claiming that Brunei has dropped claims over Limbang. [ more ]

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Brunei has officially dropped its long-standing claim over Sarawak’s Limbang district after the two countries resolved various land and maritime territory disputes.

“Brunei has decided to drop the Limbang issue and as a result, Limbang is part of Malaysian territory,” Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced to Malaysian media.

The resolution of the disputes were sealed via the signing of the Letters of Exchange by Abdullah and the Sultan of Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah at Istana Nurul Iman here yesterday.[more]