Malaysia's Anwar faces more woes as sexual harassment case against him proceeds
Malaysia 's Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim as he prepares to face a sexual harassment suit later this month, the latest in a series of controversies that has rocked his administration and cast doubts over his reformist agenda.
Advertisement
Anwar faces allegations that he has sexually assaulted a former aide, as the case threatens to dredge up past sex scandals that hounded him for years while he was in opposition.
A high court in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday threw out Anwar's attempt to invoke legal immunity as prime minister against the suit filed by Muhammed Yusoff Rawther, ruling there were no constitutional provisions for such privileges. The trial for the case is scheduled to begin on June 16.
In accepting the ruling, Anwar said on Wednesday his application was 'never about seeking personal immunity or escaping legal scrutiny'.
'It concerns the integrity of our constitutional system and the need to ensure that high public office is protected from litigation that may be strategically timed,
politically motivated or institutionally disruptive,' he said in a statement.
Advertisement
Anwar's reputation has taken a beating in recent weeks.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysian politician under fire for comparing women to cows
A rural politician's clumsy attempt at a cow-based metaphor has drawn a chorus of condemnation, shining a spotlight on the deep-rooted misogyny within Malaysia 's politics. Advertisement In a convoluted social media post on Sunday, Muhammad Salman Al Farisi, a local official from the Islamist PAS party, likened women leaders to cows – invoking his own herd of cattle to illustrate. 'When a female cow is appointed as the leader, she decides everything, while the males around her only know how to graze the crops,' wrote the youth information chief for PAS' Maran branch. 'That's why, if possible, we shouldn't be like cows that elevate their 'female' as their leader.' Giving animal similes is an art of the Malay language Muhammad Salman Al Farisi, local PAS official His remarks were immediately condemned as 'demeaning' and 'outdated', not only by the public on social media but also from within his own opposition coalition.
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Singaporean driver pumping cheap petrol in Malaysia fuels outrage
Singapore -registered car owner caught on camera filling up a plastic container with subsidised petrol in Malaysia has prompted an investigation by Malaysian authorities. The driver of the Mini Cooper with Singapore number plates was spotted at the Caltex Nusa Sentral station in Johor state on Sunday, filling up his car with RON 95-grade petrol and pumping it into a container for tapau, a colloquial term meaning a takeaway, according to a social media post by SG Road Vigilante. RON 95 is a subsidised grade of petrol available for sale only to Malaysian-registered vehicles . It costs 2.05 ringgit (48 US cents) per litre (1⁄4 gallon), which is about five times less than the price of similar-grade fuel in Singapore. Online users derided the driver seen in the footage for being a cheapskate. 'As a Singaporean, I really feel totally embarrassed by this stupid [fellow] who can afford a Mini Cooper and yet pump RON 95,' one user wrote. Others tagged the official social media pages of the police on both sides of the causeway, as well as Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in their comments. On Monday, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Johor confirmed it had launched an investigation.
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Malaysian politician under fire for comparing women to cows
A rural politician's clumsy attempt at a cow-based metaphor has drawn a chorus of condemnation, shining a spotlight on the deep-rooted misogyny within Malaysia 's politics. Advertisement In a convoluted social media post on Sunday, Muhammad Salman Al Farisi, a local official from the Islamist PAS party, likened women leaders to cows – invoking his own herd of cattle to illustrate. 'When a female cow is appointed as the leader, she decides everything, while the males around her only know how to graze the crops,' wrote the youth information chief for PAS' Maran branch. 'That's why, if possible, we shouldn't be like cows that elevate their 'female' as their leader.' Giving animal similes is an art of the Malay language Muhammad Salman Al Farisi, local PAS official His remarks were immediately condemned as 'demeaning' and 'outdated', not only by the public on social media but also from within his own opposition coalition.
