SURREY: Russ Mantle’s love affair with his bike has grown stronger with every pedal stroke and he is now poised to become the first Briton to clock up one million registered miles in his lifetime.

On Thursday, Mantle plans to create a piece of history by reaching one million miles after a mere five-mile ride from his home in Aldershot, to a cafe in Mytchett, Surrey.

The 82-year-old retired civil servant has recorded his mileage since he got his first bike — a Coventry Eagle — in 1952.

He has meticulously made note of every ride in his diaries as he made short trips to work, participated in local races and pedalled up the mountains in Europe and America.

“I started cycling in 1951 and recording in 1952 and since then I’ve just kept going,” he told Daily Mail.

“In my early days cycling was all I thought about and the natural thing to do was to cycle. I loved getting out in the countryside. To me it just seemed obvious to record my mileage, that’s what a cyclist does.”

Mantle conceded he is not able to cycle as much as he would like due to his age, but still manages 25 to 30 miles in the saddle every other day.

“This year I’ll do about 8,000 which is going to be my lowest ever,” he said.

“These days I cycle about 25 to 30 miles every other day, I’m used to doing so much more. My fitness has always been great but over the last three years it has deteriorated.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan had jokingly predicted that there could be a snap election next year if the transition of power between Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his successor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim does not take place.

The Star reported that Mohamad, fondly known as Tok Mat, urged Tanjung Piai voters to send a strong message to the ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration.

“We should not let Pakatan continue ruling for a full term because the people are suffering. By early next year, if Tun (Dr Mahathir) does not hand over the power to Anwar, the Parliament may be dissolved.

“Let us emulate the spirit of (previous by-elections) Cameron Highlands, Semenyih and Rantau, and work hard to win back Tanjung Piai.

“We must put our foot down because the country’s sliding economy is worrying,” he reportedly said on the campaign trail to over 200 villagers at Kampung Penerok in Kukup last night.

The Umno deputy spent two hours mingling with the villagers in support of the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Seri Wee Jeck Seng.

He later clarified to the press that he was only joking about the snap election.

“I just want to remind the Barisan machinery not to be complacent, but to be fully prepared if the 15th General Election is held early.

“Despite the Muafakat Nasional alliance, it is not going to be a sure win for us,” he said, adding that fielding an MCA candidate in the by-election showed that Barisan was “looking at the bigger picture” while rejecting racism.

Muafakat Nasional is the new alliance between PAS and Umno formalised in September under a Unity Charter between Malaysia’s biggest Malay-based parties.

He also voiced his confidence that the new alliance can take back 10 states in the 15th General Election.

“Based on the current political scenario, the new alliance will allow us to get back Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Perak and Kedah.

“Apart from these four states, we can also take back Johor and Selangor, provided there are no more fights among Barisan component parties.

“Unity brings peace, dispute causes harm. That’s why we must not fight among ourselves,” he was quoted saying.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang, or Tian Chua, as he is popularly known, is now free to contest in any election, after the High Court declared the Election Commission’s (EC) decision barring him from contesting in the 14th general election as unjust and equitable.

The Edge reported that the High Court judge, Datuk Seri Mariana Yahya, had made the ruling.

The business daily quoted the former Batu MP’s lawyer, Datuk Gurdial Singh Nijar telling reporters that the EC’s decision to reject Chua’s nomination in the run-up to the GE14, was unlawful.

“This is based on his two convictions (which) had not resulted in his disqualification to contest in any election.

“It was unfair for the EC to reject his nomination. As a result of the EC’s decision last year, he lost his pension but now it is being restored,” Gurdial reportedly said, adding that this was why Justice Mariana had delivered the said verdict.

The Edge also reported Gurdial saying that today’s decision also means that Chua can be made a senator.

On April 28, Chua was disqualified from contesting the Batu parliamentary seat, based on the grounds of his RM2,000 fine imposed by the Shah Alam court in March last year.

Under Article 48 of the Federal Constitution, an elected representative is disqualified if he is sentenced to more than 12 months’ jail or fined more than RM2,000.

The returning officer for the Batu parliamentary seat sought to disqualify Chua on grounds of a conviction under Section 509 of Penal Code, which carried an RM2,000 fine.

Chua then filed originating summons to seek a court declaration that he was indeed eligible to contest in the general election and by-elections.

National news agency Bernama reported that Chua also sought a declaration that it was unfair to deny his eligibility and right to contest in elections.

According to the report based on his supporting affidavit, Chua had claimed that he was qualified to do so according to Article 48(1)(e) of the Federal Constitution.

Chua reportedly said that the decisions with regards to his cases at the Kuala Lumpur High Court and Shah Alam High Court, which saw him being fined him RM2,000 each over two offences, were clear that his eligibility to contest in elections was not nullified by the decisions.

He reportedly added that the then Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia had also made an announcement that his status as an MP remained unaffected and had not received any objections about it.

Chua was initially dropped as PKR’s choice for Batu, only to be included in the eleventh hour after some party leaders and supporters reportedly lobbied for Chua’s reinstatement.

The PKR leader was originally fined RM3,000 in default three months’ jail by a Petaling Jaya Sessions Court for insulting the modesty of a policeman with vulgar words.

His fine was eventually reduced to RM2,000.

Chua won the Batu seat in 2008 and 2013 polls, increasing his majority in the latter year to 13,284 from 9,455.

P. Prabakaran, a 22-year-old law student who contested as an independent candidate against Chua, was later made PKR’s front-runner for the parliamentary seat to replace the latter, after being endorsed by Pakatan Harapan.

He went on to win the seat with a 24,438-majority over Barisan Nasional candidate Datuk Dominic Lau Hoe Chai, emerging as the country’s youngest MP.

KUALA LUMPUR: A DAP MP today questioned the reason for the existence of the National Security Council (MKN) following the arrest of two assemblymen from the party over their alleged links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

RSN Rayer wondered why the assemblymen’s alleged ties to the now-defunct separatist group had not been brought up to the council, arguing that it should have been the case.

He said the MKN, which was set up by the previous administration, should have vetted the claims of the duo’s alleged links to LTTE before taking further action.

“If they are terrorists, the MKN should know about this. They shouldn’t be detained by police just like that. We are talking about an assemblyman and an exco here. So what’s the point of having the MKN?” the Jelutong MP asked when debating the budget at the committee stage today.

Last Tuesday, DAP assemblymen P Gunasekaran and G Saminathan were slapped with terrorism charges some three weeks after their arrest in a crackdown on alleged LTTE sympathisers.

Both Gunasekaran, the Seremban Jaya assemblyman, and Saminathan, the Gadek assemblyman and Melaka exco member, claimed trial.

On a separate matter, Rayer also wondered what had happened to the allegations by Court of Appeal judge Hamid Sultan Abu Backer of judicial misconduct made earlier this year.

He said Hamid had filed an affidavit and that a police report had been lodged.

Rayer urged the Judicial Appointments Commission to ensure that those implicated in Hamid’s affidavit were sacked.

“We don’t want them to continue working,” he said.

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — A former Cypriot minister and the incumbent Orthodox Christian archbishop of the island nation have denied assisting fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho to obtain a Cypriot passport through an investment programme.

The Cyprus Mail reported former interior minister Socratis Hasikos, who headed the ministry in 2015 when Low made his application, as saying that the documents were filed via an audit firm 10 weeks before September.

On Twitter, Hasikos said there was nothing unusual about the duration in which Low secured his passport, and that the agency handling his application completed its background screening in cooperation with its partners — Interpol, the Cyprus police and the Bank of Cyprus.

It is understood that Interpol at the time did not have any compromising information about Low, while Cypriot police confirmed he had no criminal record. The bank, which received the €5 million (RM22.99 million) deposited by the businessman, confirmed the payment to be clean.

However the ex-minister said in his view, Low ought to be stripped of his citizenship in light of what has occurred.

On his part, Archbishop Chrysostomos II said a developer which had bought land from the church had requested for Low’s citizenship to be granted.

Although the church can promote certain individuals, he said that the responsibility for giving citizenship lies with the state authorities.

“He told us he was building mansions on the land he bought from us (the church). It is done for the good of Cyprus. It is not up to us if the citizenship will be given, we are just asking,” Chrysostomos said.

The archbishop said Low’s name was one of three provided by the developer for citizenship promotion, adding that the businessman had donated up to €300,000 (RM1.37 million) to the church’s theological school when he visited Cyprus.

Yesterday, local Greek-language newspaper Politis reported that Chrysostomos sent a letter to Hasikos on Sept 10, 2015, in which the minister was urged to consider Low’s application under the country’s citizenship-by-investment programme favourably.

In the letter, the archbishop also informed Hasikos that Low had invested €5 million to purchase a home in Cyprus. He was to visit the island on September 18, and was scheduled to meet Chrysostomos to discuss the promotion of various investment projects on church-owned land.

Low’s citizenship application proposal was submitted to the Cypriot cabinet on September 11, and was approved by unanimous decision.