Good morning, here's what you need to know today.

Key Highlights

• Opponents pile on Zahid
  
  
• Diplomatic controversy
  
  
• Najib's battles
  
  

Opponents pile on Zahid

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s opponents began piling on the Umno president despite his denial of an audio recording allegedly revealing him conspiring with PKR president Anwar Ibrahim.

Umno’s Ketereh MP Annuar Musa declared the recording to be "100 percent" authentic and challenged both men to take a religious oath to prove otherwise.

Even anti-PN leaders such as Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah said Zahid was not fit to lead if the audio was genuine.

Why was Zahid attacked even by leaders who are on the same page with him on cutting ties with PN? One needs to understand party factionalism.

While the two main factions in Umno are split between pro-PN and anti-PN forces, there are many sub-factions led by Umno leaders with prime ministerial ambitions.

There’s Tengku Razaleigh, who openly said he was interested to become prime minister, and there’s Ismail Sabri who despite being the third most senior leader in Umno, is the most senior minister from the party.

There’s Zahid’s party deputy Mohamad Hassan and also Hishammuddin Hussein, who despite not contesting in the last Umno election, comes from a line of elites who have held the topmost office. The list goes on.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Hamzah: Is it wrong for Zahid to call Anwar 'teacher'? Bersatu man mocks Zahid.
	Leaked audio: No reports lodged yet - Saifuddin He says it is not easy to act against the spread of such content.
	Guan Eng likens minister's climate change stand to Trump He notes Trump wasn't interested in climate change.

Diplomatic controversy

Malaysia is embroiled in another diplomatic controversy after its ambassador to Myanmar met with a leader of the military junta that overthrew the country’s democratically elected government.

Malaysia's Foreign Affairs Ministry defended the meeting, which was aired on TV in Myanmar, stating that it should not be construed as legitimising the junta.

For context, Petronas has business interests in Myanmar and hundreds of its workers were previously stranded at sea after the coup.

This was the second diplomatic controversy after Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s "big brother" comment during his visit to China.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin defended the deportation of Myanmar nationals despite concerns they may face action from the junta. He questioned if NGOs criticising the move would pay for housing them.

HIGHLIGHTS

	M'sia a trusted partner, says China ambassador He cites cooperation in development.
	Kelantan MB: Drugs behind rise in sexual crimes He said 184 sexual crimes were reported in the state last year.
	Union urges Health Ministry to assist overworked cleaners This was amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Najib’s battles

Najib Abdul Razak’s lawyers continued to hammer at the narrative of conspiracy against the ex-prime minister, inside and outside the court.

Najib’s defence team claimed he was a victim of selective prosecution in his appeal against a 12-year jail conviction for allegedly misappropriating SRC International Sdn Bhd funds.

However, the Court of Appeal told Najib’s lawyers to stop repeating the same points and to be clearer in their arguments.

Outside court, another lawyer representing Najib claimed there was a conspiracy to bankrupt the Pekan MP.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Rosmah's defence to get Sri Ram's appointment letter They are disputing his appointment.
	I felt cheated by ex-Sabah minister - witness The court heard this during Peter Anthony's trial.
	Defence tells court most of SRC's RM4b stolen This was on Najib's SRC appeal.

 

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 1,285 new cases and four deaths yesterday (April 8).
  
  
• The states with an infectivity rate of more than 1.0 are Sabah, Penang, Kelantan, Labuan, Putrajaya and Sarawak.
  
  
• The number of active cases remains stagnated at the 14,000 range for 22 consecutive days.
  
  
• For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.
  
  

• Small traders lamented the loss of livelihood after their shop lots were demolished but a Selangor exco member maintained that the action was legal.
  
  
• Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said he will pay a compound after he was spotted going around distributing cash without a mask on.
  
  
• Bersih pushed the government to give a reply to the proposal from Umno and Muda to allow 18-year-olds to register as voters under the existing manual system.
  
  
• DAP's Teratai assemblyperson Bryan Lai resigned from the party amid an extramarital affair. Lai said he didn't want his personal problems to affect the party and remains a pro-Pakatan Harapan representative.
  
  
• The rape case of Tronoh assemblyperson Paul Yong Choo Kiong, who defected from DAP to Bersatu, was postponed after three witnesses contracted Covid-19.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	Watchdogs question media ban on Shah Alam public hearing They question Selangor's commitment to press freedom.
	M'sia to deliberate on AstraZeneca vaccine over blood clots EU regulators found 'very rare' links.
	DAP rep claims govt blocked aid due to politics They were meant for 200 students in Johor.

What are people saying?

	Extending the right to die By Peter Singer
	How long will Umno bend the knee to Bersatu? By S Thayaparan
	Do we lack jobs or the right type of graduates? By Malaysiakini readers

CARTOON KINI