Current Affairs

The Australian High Court begins hearings today on whether elected parliamentary representatives identified as holding dual-citizenship can keep their jobs. This follows recent revelations that several members of parliament - including Cabinet ministers - held dual-citizenship when they were elected. Its causing a massive headache for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s government as his Liberal Party and its coalition partners have only a thin-majority in Parliament. Together with the burkah-wearing stunt of Pauline Hanson as well as the rancour of the same-sex marriage plebiscite, we ask if politics Down Under is getting more divisive?

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Yesterday, the body of a missing American sailor involved in the crash between a merchant and naval vessels off Singapore waters was found. Some 10 sailors are said to have gone missing in the incident.While there is an on-going search and rescue operation, larger questions about the Japan-based U.S. destroyer USS John S. McCain as part of the US Seventh Fleet have emerged. Responding to this incident was China’s Foreign Ministry which expressed concern for "dangers to freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea and hoped it would be "dealt with appropriately.” Today, we look at the larger dynamics that frame this tragic incident.

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The first round of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) wrapped up on Sunday. The renegotiation of the two decades-old NAFTA was one of US President Donald Trump’s main campaign promises and a key pillar of his “America First” agenda. He has called the NAFTA a “disaster” and “the worst deal in history.” Today, we ask what has NAFTA done for the people in North America and the chances that NAFTA negotiations might breakdown.

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Last week Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad was reported saying that he was “speechless” reading in the press that the state government of Selangor would not sign it’s anti-corruption pledge. And last month the Penang State Government also refused to sign the pledge, referring to its Competency, Accountability and Transparency policy, which its claims is more effective than the Corruption-Free Pledge. Today we ask what harm could come from signing on to the Pledge and if they can guarantee a corruption free administration with what Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad called “our own method”.

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The Inspector General of Police (IGP) issued a warning to atheists, just days after he was taken to court by the Mentor Besar Azmin Ali to compel the country’s top cop to issue an arrest warrant against Jho Low, a key figure in the 1MDB scandal. The IGP was quoted in The Star newspaper saying “I advise this atheist group not to cause uneasiness, particularly among Muslims who reject atheism.” Adding, “we have to evaluate the provision of our law as atheists are those who do not practice any religion therefore they are not subjected by the Constitution and the police can take action.” Today we ask does freedom of religion, which is enshrined in our Constitution, presume the right to not believe in God and a religion.

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Yesterday, a report from Geoscience Australia and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation or CSIRO suggests that they may have pinpointed the location of flight MH370. According to the report the agency has narrowed the search area to four locations in the southern Indian Ocean, where it is presumed to have crashed. In response to the report, Department of Civil Aviation Director-General said, "I wish to reiterate that the aspiration to locate MH370 has not been abandoned and every decision made, has and will always be in the spirit of tripartite cooperation among the three nations.”

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Yesterday, Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng apologised for a lack of action to help Sungai Lembu villagers despite numerous complaints about a polluting and illegal carbon filter factory in their backyard. The apology revealed Pakatan-led Penang state government’s policy of not demolishing or closing down illegal structures or businesses that existed before it took over in 2008. This followed from the arrest of Penang State Exco member, by the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission. Caught in the political tussle between supports and detractors of the state government was the state assemblywoman who had lobbied on behalf of villagers. Today we get her side of the story.

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This week, the government withdrew the amendment to the Legal Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Bill, to drop the inclusion of proposed clause 88A that was intended to prevent unilateral conversion of minor children by any one parent as the inclusion would contravene the federal constitution. The amendments came on the back of a lengthy legal battle by housewife Indira Gandhi to gain custody of her children who had been converted by her ex-spouse. Today, we speak to Latheefa Koya, a lawyer and advisor at Lawyers for Liberty, on the problems that might arise from the failure to table the Bill.

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Today United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives in Malaysia for a two-day working visit. His three-nation Southeast Asian tour began in Manila over the weekend. Its expected that topping of his agenda during his visits will be the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, maritime security, and counterterrorism. Today we ask that by dialling back on the talk of human rights with Filipino President Duterte, and by rebooting military cooperation with Thailand, are witnessing symptoms of the US’s fear a loss of influence in the region? 

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On Tuesday, Shahid Abbasi was appointed as Prime Minister of Pakistan, following the ouster of his predecessor, Nawaz Sharif the week before. Nawaz was forced to resign last Friday when the Supreme Court disqualified him from office over allegations of corruption. However the newly-minted Prime Minister is seen as a seat-warmer for Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother, Shahbaz Sharif, who was named the ruling party’s political successor. Today, we look at developments in this key South Asian country and how it tells us about how democracy might progress even in the most authoritarian of circumstances.

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