Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday he did not intend to quit despite unprecedented electoral losses that gave the opposition control of five states and one-third of parliament.
National news agency Bernama quoted Badawi as saying he doesn't need to step down because he still has strong support, especially from ruling National Front leaders.
"I will not resign because there is no pressure," he was quoted as saying.
Abdullah added he would be sworn in today at the national palace for a new five-year term.
Abdullah faced an uncertain future after shepherding the Front to its worst performance ever in general elections on Saturday, when scores of senior coalition officials lost their seats in the federal and state legislatures.
Earlier yesterday, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad called for Abdullah's resignation, saying he had "apparently made the wrong choice" when he hand-picked Abdullah to succeed him in 2003.
"My view is that he has destroyed" the National Front coalition, Mahathir told reporters yesterday. "It's shocking ... We have now a very weak government, and a weak government in a multiracial country will find great difficulty in running the country."
Abdullah kept away from the public eye following a brief news conference at which he confirmed the National Front had secured a simple majority in the 222-member parliament.
The ruling party won only 140 seats -- or 63 percent of the constituencies -- losing its two-thirds majority for the first time since 1969 and slumping from its 2004 landslide victory when it won 91 percent of the seats.
Coalition leaders were huddled in meetings yesterday to contemplate their next step, but they sought to show a united stance.
Deputy Information Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said "there is no doubt or question at all in the top ranks" that Abdullah should continue to lead.
"The prime minister has a full mandate. He will appoint a new Cabinet," Ahmad Zahid said. "There is no one person to blame for what happened."
An opposition alliance of the People's Justice Party, the Democratic Action Party and the Islamic Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party won 82 seats. The opposition had 19 seats in the outgoing parliament.
Ballots for 12 state legislatures culminated in the National Front losing control of the assembly in Penang, the only state where ethnic Chinese are a majority. It also lost control of Selangor, Kedah and Perak states for the first time.
"This is a defining moment," opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said. "The people have voted decisively for a new era where the government must be truly inclusive and recognize that all Malaysians, regardless of race and color, culture and religion, are a nation of one."
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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