China's former leader Hu Jintao escorted out of party congress - Nikkei Asia

TOKYO -- In perhaps the most dramatic moment of the 2022 Chinese Communist Party national congress, former President Hu Jintao was led by the arm out of the Great Hall of the People on Saturday.

In the closing session of the seven-day gathering, the 79-year-old was urged to leave the session by a steward, as media cameras captured the scene.

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2022-10-22 17:38:00Z
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Commentary: Five things to watch as Malaysia prepares to head to the polls - CNA

HOBART, Australia: Let the race begin. In the upcoming Malaysia General Election (GE15), the best description for competitive seats is “free for all”.

The Election Commission on Thursday (Oct 20) announced three important dates: Nomination Day on Nov 5, early voting on Nov 15 and Polling Day on Nov 19. There were no real surprises - the general consensus was for Malaysia to go to the polls in mid-Nov and a two-week campaign period.

What can we expect over the next fortnight before nomination day? Here are the major items to watch out for.

MAD SCRAMBLE ON CANDIDATE ISSUES

First, we can expect a mad scramble to sort out the candidate issue. While the political parties would have settled on most seats, there are problematic seats in both the government and the opposition side. There will always be highly competitive constituencies that all parties want.

This is especially difficult for coalitions where more than one member of the coalition is staking a claim. The golden rule is that the incumbent and his party have first claim.

In the past, this was a manageable problem given that there were really only two big coalitions fighting Malaysian elections - Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Harapan (PH). This is no longer the case. There are currently about 40 to 50 highly competitive constituencies.

There are three credible coalition - BN, PH and Perikatan Nasional (PN) - plus a smaller coalition, Gerakan Tanah Air (GTA). GTA consists of Malay nationalists' parties led by Mahathir Mohamad, who at 97 is still in the game. On top of this, there are at least two new parties who will put up candidates in these competitive constituencies.

In the meantime, over the next fortnight, party leaders will be holding clandestine meetings with each other to sort out the candidate issue.

Nevertheless, I will not be surprised that on nomination day, there will be seats where members of the same coalition will actually field candidates against each other.

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2022-10-21 22:00:00Z
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Number of child deaths from acute kidney injury in Indonesia rises to 133 - CNA

JAKARTA: Indonesia's health minister said on Friday (Oct 21) that the number of children who had died from acute kidney injury (AKI) rose to 133 from the previously reported 99.

The deaths were among a total of 241 cases in 22 provinces, Budi Gunadi Sadikin said, adding that most patients were children under the age of five.

Budi on Thursday said some medicinal syrups available in Indonesia contained ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, ingredients that have been linked to fatal AKI in children.

Indonesia has temporarily banned sales and prescription of all syrup-based medications and formed an expert team comprised of local health and paediatrics officials and World Health Organization (WHO) representatives to look into the AKI spike among children.

The country's food and drug agency has also named five locally-made products which contained excessive levels of ethylene glycol and has ordered the producers to pull them out of circulation and destroy all remaining batches.

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2022-10-21 11:48:00Z
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'Chaotic new low': UK's opposition calls for prompt elections after Liz Truss' resignation - CNA

A poll ahead of Truss’ resignation showed the Conservatives trailing Labour by about 36 per cent in ratings. YouGov surveys on the handling of security, unemployment, Brexit, and in particular, the economy, saw sharp falls in confidence for the Conservative Party over the past month.

THE KING COULD INTERVENE

The British monarch has the power to dissolve parliament and dismiss the government. However, the monarch usually stays out of politics and instances of intervention have been rare.

The dissolution of parliament is usually done at the request of the prime minister, typically at the end of each term.

However, if the situation worsens drastically – for instance, if the Conservatives are unable to pass budgets securing the economy and leading to a freefall of the British pound – King Charles would have the power to intervene, analyst Luke Mansillo told CNA’s Asia First.

“Elections could actually be initiated, not from the House of Commons, but from the palace,” said Mr Mansillo from the University of Sydney’s department of government and international relations.  

“If the economy is going into freefall because of the acts of government, that is one of the things that the king can intervene in parliament – to call for a general election for the people to resolve it,” he added.

It is also possible that the king could invite a person of his choice to form a government – someone who could win a vote of confidence, according to the BBC.

CONSERVATIVES’ IMMEDIATE PLANS

Conservative Party members will select a new party leader within its ranks next week, who will also become Britain’s next prime minister.

To run for leadership, each candidate will require the backing of at least 100 lawmakers. The party currently has 357 MPs in the House of Commons.

Although experts said that factions within the party will make finding a unity candidate difficult, several clear frontrunners have emerged.

“For now it looks like it will be a straight vote between Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt,” analyst Fabrizio Farina told CNA938 on Friday morning.

Sunak is a former Chancellor of the Exchequer who lost to Truss in the race for the Conservative leadership last month, while Mordaunt is a former defence and trade minister.

“Of the two, Sunak is the most likely to win. He has good support among the Conservative Party, has good economic credibility, and brings a much needed stability to markets,” said Mr Farina, who is a Europe analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson is also expected to make a comeback.

Although he has strong backing from the right wing groups within the party, Mr Farina said that it will be difficult for Mr Johnson to round up enough support as his image has been significantly tarnished due to corruption allegations.

Britain's new prime minister will face the immediate tasks of soothing market nerves and managing the cost of living.

The new Conservative leader would want to gain back some confidence for the party before they face the next general election, due to take place in January 2025, analysts said.

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2022-10-21 10:06:00Z
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The big reveal: Xi set to introduce China's next standing committee - CNA

IN OR OUT?

At least two of the seven current Standing Committee members are expected to retire due to age norms. Reports this week in the Wall Street Journal and South China Morning Post suggest there could be as many as four openings, with Premier Li, 67, possibly among those stepping down.

As for the next premier, although Wang Yang, 67, and Hu Chunhua, 59, a former and current vice premier, respectively, are both considered by analysts to be well-qualified by the traditional standards of a role charged with overseeing the economy, they lack long-term connections to Xi.

Shanghai party boss Li Qiang, who has long-standing ties to Xi, is likely to join the PSC and is considered a leading contender to be premier, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed sources close to party leaders.

Li's elevation to premier would be a strong sign of the importance of loyalty to Xi following Shanghai's punishing and unpopular two-month COVID-19 lockdown this year, for which Li drew heavy blame from residents.

Another loyalist seen by party watchers as a candidate for promotion is Ding Xuexiang, 60, who is Xi's chief secretary and head of the Central Committee's powerful General Office, which manages the administrative affairs of the top leadership.

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2022-10-21 01:36:00Z
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Boris Johnson comeback bid adds drama to UK political soap opera - CNA

But highlighting the division, Tory MP Roger Gale said that Johnson should be barred from standing, given he is still under parliamentary investigation over the "partygate" scandal that brought him down.

"Until that investigation is complete and he is found guilty or cleared, there should be no possibility of him returning to government," said Gale.

Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer reiterated his view that Johnson was "unfit" to govern.

"So if they're going to go from this experiment, this chaos, this economic damage, and wind back three months to a man who was deemed to be unfit for office, I think that only adds insult to injury for the public," he told the BBC.

But any lingering Johnsonian ambitions will run into the high bar set by the Conservative party for leadership candidates this time - at least 100 nominations each from among Tory MPs.

"I don't think that MPs will want to go back and pick the same person they drummed out of Downing Street only a few months ago," Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary, University of London, told AFP.

"Two-thirds of voters wanted him to resign. It's fantasy land to think that voters want him back," he added.

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2022-10-20 22:52:00Z
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Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister: Who could replace her? - CNA

LONDON: Liz Truss said on Thursday (Oct 20) she was resigning as British prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed.

A leadership election will be completed within the next week to replace Truss, who is the shortest serving prime minister in British history. George Canning previously held the record, serving 119 days in 1827 when he died.

Given the divisions in the party there is no obvious candidate and any replacement would face a country likely heading into a recession. Leading names are below:

RISHI SUNAK

Truss easily beat the former chancellor of the exchequer in this summer's Tory leadership contest, winning party members over with promises to slash taxes and regulations without curbing government spending.

Sunak, 42, had warned that her plans to fund the proposals through extra borrowing were reckless and could worsen decades-high inflation as well as market confidence in the UK.

Now that he has been proved right, Sunak was installed by bookmakers as the early favourite following Truss's dramatic announcement.

He garnered the support of the largest number of Tory lawmakers in successive rounds of voting, before party members installed Truss.

A new YouGov poll on Tuesday found he has the best ratings of the touted alternatives to Truss - albeit still with an overall net favourability rating of -18.

But he is also now viewed as a divisive figure.

Many party members, who usually get the final say on who leads the party, are unwilling to forgive him for his role in ousting ex-prime minister Boris Johnson.

BORIS JOHNSON

The former premier left office early last month after a revolt among his cabinet and Tory MPs, sparked by the resignation of Sunak and others from his faltering government following months of controversies.

Encouraged by several strong hints from Johnson himself, speculation has swirled ever since that he would attempt an eventual comeback - though few thought that could be feasible this quickly.

The Times reported after Truss's demise that he was planning to enter the race.

The ever-ebullient Brexit figurehead remains popular with a section of Conservative MPs and the party. But his brand among the wider electorate was severely damaged by his scandal-tainted three-year tenure.

A recent YouGov poll showed the 58-year-old is far more popular than Truss. Yet around two-thirds of those asked had an unfavourable opinion of him.

Johnson has kept a low profile since resigning, giving a paid speech in the United States last week but no indications of his views on the current crises gripping the UK.

He was thought to favour Truss in the summer leadership contest - although his former top aide-turned-arch-critic Dominic Cummings argued that this was because he expected her tenure to be disastrous and short-lived, paving the way for his return.

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2022-10-20 15:35:00Z
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