PENANG, Malaysia — Facing a tricky general election later this year, on Sunday the political opposition in Malaysia named its candidate to head the government: Mahathir Mohamad, who was the country’s prime minister from 1981 to 2003. The choice may seem curious. Mr. Mahathir is 92 years old. He is a former patron-turned-foe of both the current prime minister, the embattled Najib Razak, and the opposition’s longtime leader, the imprisoned Anwar Ibrahim. This appointment also m

The court has the jurisdiction to hear the challenge on PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang's motion to amend Act 355, lawyer Rosli Dahlan told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today. Last year, former Umno MP Tawfik Ismail filed an application to prevent Hadi’s motion on amendments to Act 355, or the Syariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act 1965, from being tabled in Parliament. Appearing for Tawfik (photo), Rosli told the court that it is the duty of the judiciary to keep Parlia

THE English language is in the spotlight once again when Perak Menteri Besar Zambry Abd Kadir criticised a badly-written notice in English that was put up at the entrance of the Perak Tourism Information Centre a few weeks ago. Zambry said the incident served as a reminder to everyone that announcements should be made in Bahasa Malaysia for official government matters. There are so many wrongs with Zambry press statement. Surely such notices are not official government matter

PETALING JAYA, Jan 10 — Child rights groups have lauded Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi’s decision to call for a review of the current juvenile justice system. Yesterday, at the convention on transformation measures towards a crime-free generation, Zahid said the existing criminal laws in relation to juveniles were too focused on punitive measures and needed to be re-examined in response to the 159 children arrested under the Security Offences (Special Measures)

A group of moderate former civil servants known as Group 25 (G25) was granted permission by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today to initiate a challenge on the ban of its book titled "Breaking the Silence: Voices of Moderation - Islam in a Constitutional Democracy". The leave to formally challenge the book ban was granted by Justice Kamaludin Md Said. G25's lawyers Malik Imtiaz Sarwar and Surendra Ananth said senior federal counsel Shamsul Bolhassan from the Attorney-General'

PETALING JAYA: The G25 group of prominent Malays will be organising a public forum on good governance at the Universiti Malaya Alumni Association (PAUM) clubhouse. The one-day forum, titled "Reforms for a Progressive Malaysia", aims to discuss and put forward recommendations for reforms for public sector governance, promoting a clean government, moderation of Islam in Malaysia and national unity. G25 founding member Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin said the forum is in line with the