Good morning, here's a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.

Key Highlights

• Malacca election kicks off
  
  

• Hadi's opponents purged
  
  

• Sarawak deadlock
  
  

Malacca election kicks off

Campaigning for the Malacca polls begins today, immediately after the nomination process ends at 10am.

All major contenders have already announced their candidates but they will only be formalised after the nomination.

Here are the major developments to date:

• Talks between BN and PN collapsed. They will clash in all 28 state seats.
  
  
• Umno Malacca chief Ab Rauf Yusoh, portrayed as the mastermind behind incumbent chief minister Sulaiman Md Ali, will debut in BN's safest seat. However, the central leadership maintained that Sulaiman will be the chief ministerial candidate.
  
  
• Bersatu's deputy minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin will take on Rauf. Bersatu and Umno will clash in 12 seats.
  
  
• Umno defectors Idris Haron and Nor Azman Hasan will be fielded as Harapan candidates by PKR and Amanah respectively. They became fodder for opponents.
  
  
• PKR vice-president Shamsul Iskandar will be contesting in Paya Rumput while incumbent Ginie Lim was dropped from Machap Jaya.
  
  
• DAP, opposed to the defectors, announced its candidates separately. Its state chief Tey Kok Kiew will be moved from a safe seat to a riskier seat in Bemban.
  
  
• Self-styled "Hulk" Norhizam Hassan Baktee, who defected from DAP, will contest as an independent in Pengkalan Batu. DAP will field Muhamad Danish Zainudin.
  
  
• Muda will sit out of the Malacca polls after negotiations to "borrow" Harapan's seats broke down.

HIGHLIGHTS

	'No political element in food and cash handout event' Police say it's not related to vote-buying.
	Bersatu: Say no to 'corrupt' Umno, 'chauvinist' DAP Muhammad Faiz says PN is the alternative.
	PAS Ulama hopes Umno will lose He says this will make them learn 'honest politics'.

Hadi's opponents purged

Forces within PAS that have been questioning party president Abdul Hadi Awang for choosing to cooperate with Bersatu over Umno were crushed in the PAS election.

Among the key figures defeated was Kuala Nerus MP Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali, who in August was also dropped as a minister.

Khairuddin is alleged to be the person in a leaked audio recording criticising Hadi for his affinity for Bersatu. Khairuddin downplayed the recording as the reason for his defeat.

Another defeated candidate is the party's former strategist Mohd Zuhdi Marzuki, who had just two weeks ago contradicted PN's claim that PAS will be contesting under the coalition logo.

Any doubts were quickly put to rest after Hadi confirmed PAS will use PN's logo.

PAS Youth issued a warning to any more "talkative" leaders out to challenge Hadi, urging them to trust their captain.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Tuan Ibrahim will attend COP26 after all The minister will ratify the deforestation declaration.
	Hadi: PAS is a 'kingmaker', Muafakat not a 'closed' charter He says the party must not be a 'passenger' in politics.
	PAS: We always give special focus to Penang's 'weaknesses' 'It will be published in every issue of Harakah.'

Sarawak deadlock

The Sarawak opposition is still struggling to get its act together despite the state polls being due in December.

DAP said it won't cooperate with Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) as it is suspicious of its funding.

PSB had absorbed a large part of PKR after many of its leaders defected. PSB pushed Harapan to work out a deal in order to challenge GPS in straight fights.

The GPS-led incumbent Sarawak government has been accused of rushing the state polls this year to prevent new voters from voting.

The new voting age of 18, lowered from 21, will take effect next year. Automatic voter registration will also come into force then.

GPS leaders gave various justifications for calling the polls this year including concerns about the monsoon season and the possibility of new Covid-19 variants.

GPS chairperson Abang Johari Openg said it would be a "betrayal" of democracy if the coalition stayed in power any longer.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Rehab centre resident dies, warden arrested Warden allegedly assaulted the victim.
	'Delta Plus' variant detected in two M'sian students They were returning from the UK.
	Cops detain man over Ah Long hacking death Police are probing if he was involved in the murder.

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 4,343 new cases yesterday (Nov 7), the lowest since May 16.
  
  
• 35 new fatalities put the Covid-19 death toll at 29,291

New cases by state:

Selangor (981)
Sarawak (460)
Sabah (405)
Johor (381)
Kelantan (376)
Kedah (325)
Penang (245)
Kuala Lumpur (228)
Pahang (220)
Perak (186)
Terengganu (186)
Malacca (152)
Negeri Sembilan (148)
Perlis (19)
Putrajaya (17)
Labuan (14)

What else is happening?

• Opposition representatives were appointed to lead four out of nine parliamentary select committees as part of the memorandum of understanding with the government.
  
  
• The Finance Ministry said ministers' official vehicles were changed from Proton Perdana to Toyota Vellfire because the lease on the latter was cheaper.
  
  
• Police have issued a "wanted" poster for Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle Brown, who was instrumental in exposing the 1MDB scandal. This is for a criminal defamation case over her book on 1MDB which mentioned the Terengganu sultanah.
  
  
• Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob made a personal appeal to Singapore to halt the execution of Malaysian citizen Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, who has an intellectual disability and is facing the death penalty for trafficking 42.72 grams of diamorphine. A last-ditch legal challenge will be heard today. Nagaenthran is due to be executed tomorrow.
  
  
• Developers of the MySejahtera app apologised after it erroneously listed some users as being under home quarantine or are under surveillance for Covid-19 even though they weren't.
  
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	US bans imports from Smart Glove over alleged forced labour This is the fifth Malaysian firm to face the ban in 15 months.
	M'sia gets nod to challenge 1MDB-IPIC settlement This is an 'exceptional case', says judge.
	Thomas: Legal immunity puts ex-AIAC director above rulers Ex-AG says this in an affidavit in his strike-out suit.

What are people saying?

	Eggs missing from retirement nest By Saleh Mohammed
	Doing away with the culture of privilege By Ronald Benjamin
	Outsized contributions of Malaysian Sikhs By Ranjit Singh Malhi

CARTOON KINI

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