Good morning. Wishing our Chinese readers a prosperous Chinese New Year and a joyful reunion dinner tonight.

Kini Morning Brief will be taking a break on the first two days of the Year of the Tiger. We will be back on Thursday.

Here's a quick rundown of what happened over the weekend.

Key Highlights

• PAS vs Umno: What the duck?
  
  
• PN flexes as reps quit
  
  
• MACC sets sights on Maszlee
  
  

PAS vs Umno: What the duck?

PAS and Umno are ruffling each other's feathers again, in a blowup that could finally lead to Muafakat Nasional's collapse.

The latest incident started after PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang called Umno a lame duck that "broke its leg" in the 2018 general election, which the Islamist party nursed.

However, Hadi said the duck is now trying to fly the coop.

The remarks came after PAS said it was offered scraps by Umno in seat negotiations in the Johor state election. 

There were disgruntled remarks to a flurry of responses, with Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan saying his party's revival had nothing to do with PAS.

Both parties are expected to square off against each other in the Johor polls - as they did in Malacca.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Khaled: Umno won't be PAS' 'divorcee' It's Bersatu's problem now, he says.
	Puad turns 'lame duck' slur on Hadi 'PAS weakened Muafakat'
	Johor polls: Annuar defends 'court cluster' Hadi blamed them for snap polls.

PN flexes as reps quit

Meanwhile, Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin - together with Hadi - flexed and warned the Umno led government that Perikatan Nasional's support for Putrajaya was conditional.

The duo also took veiled jabs at Umno for triggering the Johor polls.

The stark reminder has led to rife speculation that PN may be threatening to pull support from Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a move that could lead to a snap general election.

However, the flexing by PN is being undermined by two Johor Bersatu incumbent state lawmakers quitting the party to support Umno.

Bersatu has a lot at stake in the Johor polls. A major defeat - as it suffered in Malacca - could dampen the party's credibility further on a federal level.

HIGHLIGHTS

	PM calls for political stability 'It's for the people.'
	Johor Bersatu leader mocks Larkin rep 'No confidence in Muhyiddin unfounded.'
	Umno denies bribing ex-Bersatu reps to defect 'They quit voluntarily.'

MACC sets sights on Maszlee

The MACC is probing Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik after two reports were lodged against him.
MACC has not disclosed what the case is about, but sources claimed that Maszlee had taken gratuity from companies linked to the Education Ministry when he held the portfolio from 2018 to early 2020.

Maszlee had previously complained that the MACC was harassing his officers.

He claimed at the time that this was over his participation in a protest against embattled MACC chief Azam Baki.

Sungai Buloh MP R Sivarasa - who helped expose Azam's scandal - also claimed that the graft buster was taking reprisal action against him.

HIGHLIGHTS

	Azam protest: Cops crackdown MPs, activists questions.
	Harapan leaders: MACC the problem 'MACC not the solution to graft.'
	Saifuddin: Harapan is united 'Logos won't hurt ties.'

A daily glance at Covid-19

• 4,915 new cases yesterday (Jan 30)
  
  
• The R-number was above 1.10 for four days in a row as of Saturday. 
  
  
• Active cases have been on the rise since Jan 17.
  
  

New cases by state

Selangor (1,269)
Johor (763)
Kedah (420)
Kuala Lumpur (409)
Malacca (396)
Sabah (373)
Penang (326)
Kelantan (279)
Negeri Sembilan (204)
Pahang (204)
Perak (130)
Terengganu (67)
Putrajaya (29)
Perlis (28)
Sarawak (18)
Labuan (0)

What else is happening?

• Fugitive businessperson Jho Low denied having legal standing to control 1MDB in a defence statement responding to a civil suit launched by the firm.
  
  
• The Federal Court gave Najib Abdul Razak until May 20 to apply for a Queen’s Counsel from the UK to submit in his appeal in the RM42 million SRC International case.
  
  
• The government's "new" electricity tariff is the same for domestic users, but higher for businesses. Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob warned that this isn't an excuse for businesses to jack up prices.
  
  
• The US says it has sufficient evidence that Sime Darby Plantation Bhd uses forced labour. Human Resources Minister M Saravanan will meet with companies that have been hit by US sanctions over alleged human rights abuses.
  
  
• This week's Malaysianskini features Brian Gomez, a gig organiser and owner of Merdekaraya, a space for musicians to express themselves free of censorship.
  
  

HIGHLIGHTS

	Ex-PD polls candidate charged for murder She is accused of killing her husband.
	AirAsia changes name to Capital A It's not just an airline now.
	Forget about Finas, critic tells film makers 'Finas leaders are clueless'.

What are people saying?

	How good are our universities? By Sharifah Munirah Alatas
	PKR or Harapan logo, don’t play checkers in a chess game By William Leong
	Najib masking his govt's RM1t debt as Harapan’s doing By Tony Pua

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