Category: Legal

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 9 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) is looking to use some other drugs apart from Baricitinib to treat COVID-19 patients in the country, said MOH deputy director-general (Research and Technical Support) Datuk Dr Hishamshah Mohd Ibrahim.

Speaking at the National Recovery Summit dialogue session today, Dr Hishamshah said these drugs will add to the number of drugs that are being used to treat COVID-19 patients in the serious categories.

“It remains a challenge to us. But Malaysia has been actively involved in many clinical trials for the treatment of COVID-19 and has participated in the World Health Organisation (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Trial for COVID-19 Treatments.

“We are also now using Baricitinib, a new drug, and we are looking into some other drugs, which probably are going to get EUA (Emergency Use Authorisation) approval soon, as we are discussing the matter with the manufacturers,” he said at the virtual event, organised by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific.

On another note, Dr Hishamshah said MOH is also looking at ways to make the COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit available to B40 groups.

Earlier today, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz also said the government would further revise the price of self-test kits by the end of this year to make them accessible to everyone.

Last week, the government set the retail ceiling price for the COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit at RM19.90 per set and RM16 per set for a wholesale price, effective Sept 5.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

SEPANG, Sept 8 — Victims of sexual harassment should immediately report the crime to the authorities without having to wait for a Bill on the matter, said Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.

“This is a new Bill, not an amendment bill, that is why it is taking time and involves many other ministries,” she said, adding that the draft of the bill is in the final stage for scrutiny by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC).

“If there is sexual harassment, immediately report to the authorities or Talian Kasih 15999. There is no need to wait for the Bill to be tabled. Our country has laws,” she told reporters after handing over donations and Bakul Prihatin Negara (food baskets) to needy recipients here today.

Rina was commenting on the pressure from various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to expedite the tabling of the bill following the increase in sexual harassment cases involving women and children of late.

The media had previously reported that the Sexual Harassment Bill was scheduled to be tabled in Parliament last year.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 16  — The role of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin as caretaker prime minister is to ensure that the country’s administration is not disrupted and can function as normal until a new prime minister is appointed, according to constitutional and law experts.

 

Constitutional expert Associate Professor Dr Khairil Azmin Mokhtar said as the caretaker prime minister, Muhyiddin cannot make major decisions and the country’s admininstration can only proceed according to the policies or decisions made by the previous government.

 

“The caretaker prime minister is not involved in making any (major) decisions and is only guided by existing policies. In the present situation, although there is no prime minister or Cabinet, the function of the government continues except that officially the posts of prime minister and Cabinet ministers do not exist,” he told Bernama.

 

 

Khairil Azmin, who is lecturer of Laws and Malaysian Constitution in the Ahmad Ibrahim Law Kulliyyah of International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), said the present scenario was similar to what happened when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad resigned as the seventh prime minister last year, which required the appointment of a new prime minister from among members of the Dewan Rakyat.

 

According to him, there is no provision for a caretaker prime minister, interim prime minister or interim government in the Federal Constitution.

 

He said in a normal situation, an interim government can only come about when Parliament was automatically dissolved, causing the prime minister and Cabinet ministers to lose their posts.

 

 

Concurring with Khairil Azmin’s view was another constitutional expert, Professor Datuk Dr Shamrahayu Ab Aziz, who said that Muhyiddin’s appointment reflected the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s desire for the Pagoh Member of Parliament to continue serving until a new prime minister is appointed.

 

“Judging from the term ‘caretaker’ in Istana Negara’s statement which refers to a situation where a caretaker prime minister was appointed while waiting for the appointment of a new prime minister, it means the duties are limited to the time until the new prime minister is appointed,” she in an interview on Bernama TV’s Malaysia Petang Ini programme.

 

Shamrahayu, who is Universiti Teknologi Mara Institution of Malay Rulers chair, said the caretaker context also showed that the caretaker prime minister did not have vast powers to make big decisions.

 

Earlier today, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah had consented to appoint Muhyiddin as caretaker prime minister pending the appointment of a new prime minister.

 

The appointment of the caretaker prime minister was decided upon after His Majesty accepted the resignation of Muhyiddin as prime minister and that of the entire Cabinet effective today.

 

Meanwhile, lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla said the concept of caretaker prime minister does not appear in the constitution, but it does not mean that it is wrong.

 

“Muhyiddin cannot make major policy decisions, but can only supervise the functions of ministries until Agong appoints the new prime minister,” he said.

 

Another legal practioner, Datuk Mohd Haaziq Pillay, said the role of a caretaker prime minister is not defined in the Federal Constitution.

 

“As he is only caretaker prime minister, he can do matters that relate only to government functions and those that are required of him as caretaker prime minister. Although the functions are not defined, the caretaker prime minister is in fact acting as the prime minister by virtue of Article 40(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution.

 

“It must be remembered that he is only acting as a caretaker prime minister on the advice and orders of the King. He was not appointed based on the provisions of Article 43(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution which requires him to have a majority number of seats in Parliament,” the lawyer said.

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR Aug 6 — Police denied that they were collecting public contributions to prepare daily food for residents in the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) area at Section 4 Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, here.

 

Petaling Jaya district police chief ACP Mohamad Fakhrudin Abdul Hamid said they received a message via WhatsApp application today on collecting donations to prepare daily food for people in Gugusan Semarak which is the EMCO area.

 

He said the message stated that the Kota Damansara police had been requested to provide daily food for 10 days in the area and the message also stated that donations could be made into a Maybank account number 5648 0165 7304 on behalf of Bekind Malaysia.

 

 

“Police denied the viral message because no assistance was required from any party for the EMCO to be  carried out,” he said in a statement today.

 

Mohamad Fakhrudin said his team suspected that there were individuals or associations who took advantage by trying to collect donations for personal gains.

 

He said any individual who had made a payment to the specified bank account was asked to come forward to lodge a police report to assist in the investigation.

 

 

“The people are advised not to be easily deceived by any posting or viral message involving the name of the Royal Malaysia Police. The community is also advised to check with the police first as prevention before becoming a victim of fraud,” he said.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

— A total of 534 homestay and chalet operators in Johor have received one-off assistance of RM1,000 each to ease their burden in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Hasni Mohammad said the assistance totalling RM534,000 through the Ihsan Johor 3.0 Economic Stimulus Package was expected to help them to continue their businesses.

“The state government is aware of the impact faced by the tourism sector as a result of the pandemic which has not ended yet. I hope this assistance can help them to some extent,” he said in a statement here today.

Meanwhile, Trata’leka Homestay Resort owner Safiah Isa said the assistance was needed to cover the operating expenses of her homestay after a 90 per cent reduction in visitors to her place since last year.

“This reduction has caused financial problems to pay for maintenance and so on. Alhamdulillah (thanks to Allah), this assistance can help cover my homestay operating expenses, especially maintenance costs,” she said in the same statement.

Early last month, Hasni had announced an allocation of RM1.74 million to assist tourism sector players under the Ihsan Johor 3.0 Economic Stimulus Package.

Among those in the list of recipients are budget hotel, home stay operators, tour guides and registered travel agencies in the state.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Interstate travel approval letters issued by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) for business and work purposes was disallowed for four days effective today as certain individuals were found to have abused them to return to their hometowns for the upcoming Aidiladha holiday period.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Yaakob said a similar situation occurred during the Aidilfitri celebrations on May 12, which then triggered 36 COVID-19 clusters.

“I think everyone would have started their holidays today (in conjunction with Aidiladha)… during the last Hari Raya Aidilfitri, hundreds of thousands travelled interstate with various reasons, including using the interstate travel letter meant for work.

“There probably are also those who use their ‘expertise’ to evade the police by travelling through plantation roads and so on, but you can’t deceive COVID-19,” he told reporters after visiting the drive-thru vaccination centre (PPV) at the Jempol district office hall in Bandar Seri Jempol here today.

Ismail Sabri once again reminded the public not to take their chances and try to cross districts or states for the upcoming holidays, and instead take heed from the spike in COVID-19 cases currently.

Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani in a statement last night said police will not accept documents from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) as a valid movement permit for the four-day period from July 18-21 for interstate travel.

He said this was following the detection of an increased number of vehicles on the highways over the past few days.

Meanwhile, Ismail Sabri, who is also Defence Minister, said the ministry has yet to receive any application from the Health Ministry (MoH) for more field hospitals to be set up.

However, he added, the Defence Ministry was ready to build four more field hospitals to help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, this after the recruitment of 30 doctors and 100 healthcare workers on contract recently.

He said so far there were six field hospitals established in Pokok Sena, Kedah; Tawau, Sabah; Kapit, Sarawak; Kepala Batas, Penang, Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bharu and Labuan.

On the programme today, Ismail Sabri said more drive-thru PPVs should be opened in other locations to accelerate the vaccination process in the country.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

Malaysia remains steadfast in its position to see all evidence related to the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine made public and the judicial process be conducted fairly and not affected by any political pressure in order for justice to prevail.

In a statement issued by Malaysia’s Transport Ministry (MOT) today in conjunction with the seventh anniversary of the downing of MH17, Malaysia said it is always committed to giving full support to efforts to bring those responsible for the shooting down of MH17 to justice.

“Malaysia reiterates its commitment to bring the perpetrators of this inhumane crime to justice, not only because everyone involved deserves to see justice, but it will also bring comfort and peace of mind to the next of kin of those who were lost in the tragedy,” it said.

The Boeing 777 plane was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014 when it was shot down as it flew over a part of eastern Ukraine. All 298 people aboard died.

The statement said Malaysia believed and hoped that the COVID-19 pandemic would not be an obstacle to the efforts to uphold justice for the victims of the MH17 tragedy.

“Our thoughts and prayers are always with the victims and their loved ones. We hope families and friends of the victims will have strength and resilience while we remain committed in our pursuit to seek justice,” it said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency