← Back to list

News Wrap-up: Dates Set For Najib Trial, No Salary Hike Yet For Civil Servants

Aug 11, 2018

Dates Set For Former PM's Trial

The KL High Court has fixed February 12-28 and March 4-29 next year for Datuk Seri Najib Razak's criminal cases trial.

Image Source: The Edge

Meanwhile, Najib's application for a gag order, barring the media from discussing the merits of his trial, was rejected by the court.

The court ruled that such an order would violate freedom of speech.

Najib is facing 7 counts of criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering, linked to SRC International.

No Civil Service Salary Hike Just Yet

PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says the government cannot raise civil servant's salaries just yet due to the high national debt.

He says it will have to be done gradually, as it also requires increasing the salaries of those earning above the minimum pay.

He explains this cannot be done immediately because the total number of civil servants now stands at 1.6 million.

He also said aside from the gradual increase in income, there also needs to be an increase in productivity.

PPBM Eyes Sarawak

Separetely, the Prime Minister says efforts are underway to officially set up Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia in Sarawak.

Image Source: Berita Daily

The Bersatu chairman says almost 30,000 people have signed up to join PPBM to date in the state.

Meanwhile, Tun M says some amendments to the party's constitution will be made to make way for it to hold a general assembly by the end of the year.