Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took the oath of office for a new five-year term yesterday, rejecting calls to resign after unprecedented electoral setbacks wiped out the ruling coalition's two-thirds majority and shook the political landscape and the stock market.
Abdullah was sworn in at a simple, nationally broadcast ceremony in front of the constitutional monarch, King Mizan Zainal Abidin, and dozens of dignitaries in the national palace's glittering throne room.
"I pledge to carry out my duties honestly and with all my abilities," Abdullah said, reading out the oath. "I pledge to protect and uphold the Constitution."
He smiled occasionally and mingled with guests after the ceremony, belying the stress of the last two days when he was confronted with the biggest political crisis of his life.
His National Front ruling coalition secured a fresh mandate in Saturday's general elections, but lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and relinquished control of five of the 13 states to opposition parties.
The opposition alliance now has 82 seats in the 222 member parliament, a massive jump from its 19 seats in the outgoing house.
Abdullah got a much-needed vote of support from his United Malays National Organization to stay on as both party president and prime minister at a special meeting of the party yesterday, despite calls from former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad to quit.
But he has an enormous task ahead in holding together his battered coalition and filling holes in his Cabinet -- four ministers lost seats in the weekend election, including Works Minister S. Samy Vellu, the head of the main Indian party in the coalition.
A key partner, the Malaysian Chinese Association, dismissed speculation that it might pull out of the coalition.
Sources close to Abdullah said he had canceled plans to attend next week's Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in Senegal -- he was to hand over chairmanship of the 57-member grouping -- to deal with the crisis at home.
"A two-party system seems likely to evolve from the outcome of this general election," wrote Wong Chun Wai, the editor of the pro-government Star daily, in his newspaper yesterday.
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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
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
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
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