Floating on a tide of money, facilitated by a popular chief minister and aided by a squabbling and ineffective opposition, Malaysia’s ruling national coalition handily won Sarawak state elections on May 7. The polls, which delivered 72 seats in an expanded 82-member state assembly to the Barisan Nasional, led in the East Malaysia state by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, or PBB, hands Prime Minister Najib Razak a crucial vote of confidence and sets up possible sedition charges against former PM Mahathir Mohamad, his most implacable foe. Najib is caught in the coils of a gigantic scandal over the indebted state-backed 1MDB fund.
Malaysian PM Basks in State Electoral Victory
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Malaysian PM Basks in State Electoral Victory
Floating on a tide of money, facilitated by a popular chief minister and aided by a squabbling and ineffective opposition, Malaysia’s ruling national coalition handily won Sarawak state elections on May 7. The polls, which delivered 72 seats in an expanded 82-member state assembly to the Barisan Nasional, led in the East Malaysia state by Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu, or PBB, hands Prime Minister Najib Razak a crucial vote of confidence and sets up possible sedition charges against former PM Mahathir Mohamad, his most implacable foe. Najib is caught in the coils of a gigantic scandal over the indebted state-backed 1MDB fund.
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