KINI ROUNDUP | Here are the key headlines you may have missed yesterday, in brief.

Top judges resign

Chief justice Md Raus Sharif and Court of Appeal president Zulkefli Ahmad Makinudin tendered their resignations, which will take effect on July 31.

With their impending departure, East Malaysian leaders expressed hope that the chief judge of the High Court of Sabah and Sarawak, Richard Malanjum, will be considered for chief justice.

Former Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram said the July 31 date set for the resignation of the two judges are depriving others of the chance to serve.

Stanley Isaacs, the former head of prosecution for the Attorney-General's Chambers, said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong should revoke the contentious appointments of the two outgoing judges instead of permitting them to resign.

On another matter, lawyer Rafique Rashid Ali suggested that the attorney-general appoint senior criminal lawyers to team up with deputy public prosecutors if charges are brought against ex-premier Najib Abdul Razak over 1MDB.

BN gone case, says Umno leader

Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz said that the party is better off without its BN partners MCA, MIC and Gerakan, since the coalition is a “gone case.”

Nazri also threw his support behind Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for Umno president and Annuar Musa for deputy president in the upcoming party polls.

An analyst told Malaysiakini that BN has ceased to exist with the departure of Sarawak component parties from the coalition, and that only Umno remains.

BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said that the exodus of the Sarawak parties was expected, and it shows now “who is our friend and who is our foe.”

Johor Umno chief Mohamed Khaled Nordin, however, said that BN's defeat should not undo the decades-long friendship between the component parties.

Other Kinibites

Election Commission chairperson Mohd Hashim Abdullah's service tenure has been shortened, and he will leave his post on July 1.

The Johor royal family insisted that it has never taken from the people, but instead given back through its foundations to help the needy.

Umno Youth exco Shahril Sufian Hamdan warned that Malaysia is at the risk of going bankrupt if Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad obtains yen-denominated soft loans from Japan.

Over a month after GE14, eight BN assemblypersons in Perlis were finally sworn in as exco members, with only Tambun Tulang lawmaker Ismail Kassim absent from the ceremony.

Najib will hold his Hari Raya open house at his residence in Pekan this Friday.

Looking ahead

The Muslim Consumers Association will conduct a Harapan Rakyat Malaysia sale in Puchong Permai.

Tian Chua and Nurul Izzah Anwar will a attend book launch event about the former’s jailing in KLCC.