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

Key Highlights

• Yeo's aborted sacking
  
  
• Putrajaya dips into petroleum fund
  
  
• Coercing social media 'likes'
  
  

Yeo’s aborted sacking

Senator Liew Chin Tong, in his latest book, revealed that then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had wanted to sack DAP’s Yeo Bee Yin as a minister for her defiance in the Lynas issue.

But confusion followed when Amanah’s ex-minister Salahuddin Ayub said Yeo’s sacking was never discussed in the cabinet or by the Harapan presidential council.

This gave the impression of a contradiction. For those familiar with how the appointment of a minister works, their tenure is at the absolute discretion of the prime minister.

It is not something that is discussed in the cabinet meeting as other ministers do not have a say in the sacking of a colleague. Who is consulted is also the prime minister’s discretion.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang later confirmed the planned sacking and said Pakatan Harapan should learn the importance of election pledges, contrasting with Mahathir’s downplaying of Harapan’s manifesto.

Lynas was a key issue for Harapan but it had to grapple with some cabinet members, particularly from Bersatu, who defended the rare earth project.

HIGHLIGHTS

	EIA for Lynas PDF not yet approved - DOE Environmentalists urged scrutiny.
	'Burn them' - Kit Siang said amid Ku Li's courtship Umno's Tengku Razaleigh wanted DAP MPs to back him.
	'Credit card spending showed Najib knew funds were from SRC' The prosecution submits this in the Court of Appeal.

Putrajaya dips into petroleum fund

Putrajaya again invoked its emergency powers, this time to tap into the National Trust Fund (Kumpulan Wang Amanah Negara - Kwan) for the purchase of vaccines.

The fund was accumulated over the decades, mainly from contributions by national petroleum company Petronas.

Under normal circumstances, this move must be approved by Parliament - but Putrajaya is now governing by decree under the emergency.

The move was despite the Perikatan Nasional government already allocating RM3 billion under Budget 2021 for the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.

Previously, Putrajaya also invoked emergency powers to spend from the consolidated fund without Parliament’s approval.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Khairy open to being probed over Covid-19 vaccines He said purchase contracts were disclosed to PAC.
	MOH probing alleged 'vaccine deaths' It urged the public not to speculate.
	Birthday wishes pour in for Health DG Netizens urge him to stay strong.

Coercing social media ‘likes’

The Communications and Multimedia Ministry issued a directive compelling all civil servants to like the social media pages of its minister Saifuddin Abdullah, deputy minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin and chief secretary Mohammad Mentek.

The directive was leaked on social media and went viral. We spoke to our friends in government media outfits, who also confirmed receiving the directive.

In damage control mode, the ministry issued a "denial" by claiming no such directive came from the minister but conveniently ignored whether such a directive existed and who was actually responsible for it.

In public relations, denying something related but different is a classic misdirection strategy.

The goal is for readers to glance over the “denial” in headlines and assume it’s a blanket denial - but the devil is in the details.

HIGHLIGHTS

	MP takes down Ramadan aid post after 'bigoted' attacks P Kasthuriraani says it's sad that hurtful narrative being used.
	Syariah 'unnatural sex' charges dropped This was after a Federal Court ruling.
	College students' RM1,500 compound reduced The fine was for violation of the Covid-19 SOP.

 

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 2,340 new cases yesterday (April 21), marking a full week where daily cases are above 2,000.
  
  
• The surges in Sarawak (429 new cases) and Kelantan (370) are still not abating while the figure in Selangor (526) is stagnated.
  
  
•  The infectivity rate remains above 1.0 for the 14th consecutive day, signifying sustained exponential growth in new cases.
  
  
• The death toll hit the 1,400-mark with 11 new fatalities.
  
  
• For trends on daily cases, tests, hospital beds capacity, vaccination progress and more, follow our Covid-19 tracker.
  
  

What else is happening?

• Amid concerns from parents, the Education Ministry said all schools that record even a single Covid-19 case must now close for at least two days. Previously, some schools only closed affected classrooms.
  
  
• Putrajaya placed another three Kelantan districts under a full movement control order (MCO), which means the entire state is now under a full MCO.
  
  
• An MP questioned why Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia is splurging on breaking fast events with public funds when it has yet to resolve the plight of PR1MA homebuyers who have to service their loans but aren't getting their promised housing units.
  
  
• The Umno supreme council is set to meet this Sunday and some leaders are expected to push back against attempts to postpone the party election, which could give Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi an extended tenure.
  
  
• The Federal Territories Land and Mines Office gave its assurance that SMK Convent Bukit Nanas will not be demolished, even though its lease won't be renewed. It said the intention is to convert it from a partially-aided school to a fully-aided government school.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	Pekan mosque compounded RM10k It purportedly violated Covid-19 SOP.
	The education sector sees 4,868 Covid-19 cases this year It is also seeing 49 active Covid-19 clusters.
	Court to hear Ku Nan's conviction appeal today He was jailed for two years and fined RM2 million.

What are people saying?

	DAP extremists and moderates By Zaid Ibrahim
	DAP's Chinese debate is larger than its party By James Chai
	Access to justice is seeking popularity? By Gurdial Singh Nijar

CARTOON KINI