Umno assembly to set direction after partys dismal showing at Malaysia polls

Published

2 years ago

January 10, 2023

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KUALA LUMPUR – Umnos general assembly this week will be a closely watched affair following its worst-ever general election performance in November, with its leadership seeking to close ranks.

Besides pushing for a constitutional amendment to deter party hopping by elected representatives, Umno president Zahid Hamidi is likely to call for party unity and rally support for his controversial decision to back nemesis Anwar Ibrahim as premier.

But the question for the more than three million members of Malaysias largest and oldest party is not so much whether they should restore unity after more than four years of damaging internal conflict, but under whose leadership and which direction.

The partys annual congress from Wednesday to Saturday, held after a delay since 2022, comes ahead of leadership polls that must be held by May.

In approval surveys during the 2022 election campaign, Zahid who is facing dozens of graft charges was often the least popular of several prime ministerial candidates that included Umno vice-president Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who was then prime minister.

The initial chorus for Zahid to step down and take the blame for Umno winning just 26 out of Parliaments 222 seats went silent after the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it leads joined the so-called unity government led by Datuk Seri Anwars Pakatan Harapan (PH).

The move confounded many political observers, as Umno has vilified Mr Anwar and his allies for the past 15 years as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam the majority ethnic group and religion the party claims to represent.

But the move allowed Umno to stay relevant as a governing power and Zahid to become deputy prime minister, despite BNs decimation at the polls. The Umno meeting this week will offer the first glimpse of whether the top 5,000 delegates nationwide believe this comity with PH is able to stem Umnos decline.

We have been thrashed in the last election, Zahid said on Monday in a televised interview. Now we must have self-criticism, not just pointing fingers at one person. Many are responsible. What happened was the heavy cost from the lack of collective unity in spirit and thinking.

Whether the grassroots agree that the party president is not solely to blame will be crucial for the fortunes of Zahids camp which was the key proponent for joining PH and other parties from East Malaysia in government and, by extension, the fate of the Anwar administration. Another faction had preferred the more Malay Muslim-based coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) whose 74 MPs are the only ones now left in the opposition that Umno had worked with in government since 2020.

BowerGroupAsia political analyst Adib Zalkapli told The Straits Times: Umno is at the stage of managing the biggest change in the partys history. It could even be the start of a permanent relationship with PH, which would be credited to Zahid, whether or not it arrests the partys long, slow decline.

Zahid has been party president since taking over in 2018 from Najib Razak after Umno lost power for the first time in Malaysias six-decade history. The party returned to government in 2020 under Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin after his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia defected from the PH administration.

At a time of heightened infighting between Zahids camp, which wanted to call early national elections, and those who wanted to remain in power until the end of the five-year parliamentary term, Umno in May 2022 amended its Constitution to allow triennial leadership polls to be postponed by up to six months after a general election.

This ensured that Zahid would not be ousted until after a reconfiguration of Malaysias political landscape, which critics alleged was a cunning move to influence court cases faced by Zahid and others in his faction. Since the election, two former Umno MPs have been acquitted of corruption. More On This Topic Umno will still support Malaysias unity government if Im president: Khairy Umno seeks to curb infighting before party polls Talk of a no-contest motion for the top two party positions appears to have fizzled out, with information chief Isham Jalil pointing out that only an amendment to the party Constitution can prevent a challenge to Zahid and his deputy, Mr Mohamad Hasan. No such resolution is on the agenda for the general assembly.

I feel the power to decide the leadership lies in the hands of our nearly 160,000 representatives nationwide, Zahid said last Thursday, referring to the number of delegates from branches that will be able to vote for both divisional and national leaders.

Some Umno veterans, such as Johor Umno deputy chief Nur Jazlan Mohamed, have warned that all four presidential contests in the partys 70-year history have led to worsening rifts in the party.

Datuk Nur Jazlan said last week: Umno cannot afford to suffer another big split because that would hasten its demise.

But analysts believe the question of unity is only one half of the equation, and if there is no change of guard, then the existing leadership must articulate how the party will reverse its fortunes.

Mr Tan Seng Keat, research manager at opinion pollster Merdeka Center, told ST: Umno is in need of soul-searching and reforms after its worst-ever election result. It also needs a new internal narrative now that it has joined hands with PH.

It needs to showcase its leaderships ability to be nation builders to regain the faith of both the public and its core base, or see the Malay majority continue to slide towards PN. More On This Topic Four years after shock loss, Umno has been battered like never before Interactive: How a divided Malaysia gave rise to Perikatan Nasionals teal tsunami

Entertainment

French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

Published

3 hours ago

January 16, 2025

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French woman faces online mockery after being conned out of £700,000 by fake Brad Pitt

A French woman has been mocked on social media after losing more than €830,000 (£700,000) to scammers posing as the Hollywood actor Brad Pitt.

The 53-year-old interior designer, known only as Anne, thought she was in a year-long romantic relationship with the Fight Club and Ocean’s Eleven star.

But after opening up about her ordeal to reporters, she suffered so much trolling that the French television channel TF1 had to pull her interview.

“The story broadcast this Sunday has resulted in a wave of harassment against the witness,” TF1 presenter Harry Roselmack wrote on X.

“For the protection of victims, we have decided to withdraw it from our platforms,” he added.

At the time of the broadcast, Anne was reported to have been suffering from severe depression.

Anne told TF1’s Seven to Eight show that, after starting to use Instagram for the first time, she was contacted by someone posing as Pitt’s mother.

“She told me that her son needed someone like me,” Anne explained. The scammers messaged her again several days afterwards, this time posing as Brad Pitt.

Anne said she began talking to the fake version of the actor sometime in February 2023 on different social media and messaging platforms, including WhatsApp.

Images from the TF1 programme have been widely shared online, showing a number of AI-generated images of Brad Pitt in hospital, designed to trick Anne in believing she was interacting with the 61-year-old actor.

‘I really didn’t understand’

“At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne explained to TF1. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.”

Scammers began requesting money, telling Anne that Brad was in hospital with kidney cancer and needed money for treatment. He claimed his bank accounts were frozen during divorce proceedings with ex-wife Angelina Jolie.

She eventually agreed to transfer a large sum of money to a Turkish bank account after receiving an email from the fake star’s “doctor”.

Scammers ‘deserve hell’

Anne said she finally realised she had been scammed after she saw pictures of the real Brad Pitt with his current partner, Ines de Ramon.

“I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this?” she told TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.”

Police are investigating the scam, but the interview has triggered some social media posts making jokes at Anne’s expense.

French newspaper Sud Ouest reported that Anne was going through divorce proceedings with a millionaire entrepreneur at the time and needed hospital treatment for severe depression following the scam.

A spokesperson for Brad Pitt told Sky News: “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities.”

They added it was “an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence”.

Environment

Biden’s $635M good-bye, Trump’s DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

Published

3 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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Biden's 5M good-bye, Trump's DOT pick will investigate Tesla, and a look ahead

On today’s episode of Quick Charge we explore the uncertainty around the future of EV incentives, the roles different stakeholders will play in shaping that future, and our friend Stacy Noblet from energy consulting firm ICF stops by to share her take on what lies ahead.

We’ve got a couple of different articles and studies referenced in this forward-looking interview, and I’ve done my best to link to all of them below. If I missed one, let me know in the comments.

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Environment

In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

Published

4 hours ago

January 15, 2025

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In December, EV sales were still up and incentives were still sweet – Kelley Blue Book

December-EV-salesKelley — Chevy Equinox EV (Source: GM)

EV sales kept up their momentum in December 2024, with incentives playing a big role, according to the latest Cox Automotive’s Kelley Blue Book report.

December’s strong EV sales saw an average transaction price (ATP) of $55,544, which helped push the industry-wide ATP higher, according to Kelley Blue Book. The December ATP for an EV was higher year-over-year by 0.8%, slightly below the industry average, and higher month-over-month by 1.1%. Tesla ATPs were higher year-over-year by 10.5%.

Incentives for EVs remained elevated in December, although they were slightly lower month-over-month at 14.3% of ATP, down from 14.7% in November.

EV incentives were higher by an impressive 41% year-over-year and have been above 12% of ATP for six consecutive months. Strong sales incentives, which averaged more than $6,700 per sale in 2024, were one reason EV sales surpassed 1.3 million units last year, according to Cox Automotive, a new record for volume and share.

(My colleague Jameson Dow reported yesterday, “In 2024, the world sold 3.5 million more EVs than it did in the previous year … This increase is larger than the 3.2 million increase in EV sales from the previous year – meaning that EV sales aren’t just up, but that the rate of growth is itself increasing.”)

Kelley Blue Book estimated that in December, approximately 84,000 vehicles – or 5.6% of total sales – transacted at prices higher than $80,000 – the highest volume ever. KBB lumps gas cars and EVs together into this luxury vehicle category, so this is where Tesla Cybertruck is slotted.

However, Tesla bundles sales figures of Cybertruck with Model S, Model X, and Tesla Semi(!) into a category it calls “other models,” so we don’t know for sure exactly how many Cybertrucks Tesla sold in Q4, much less in December. However, Electrek‘s Fred Lambert estimates between 9,000 and 12,000 Cybertrucks were sold in Q4, and that’s not a stellar sales figure.

What will January bring when it comes to EV ATPs? What about tax credits? Check back in a month and I’ll fill you in.

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