The Hindu : Abdullah Badawi sworn in

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 23, 2004

International

International

Abdullah Badawi sworn in

KUALA LUMPUR, MARCH 22. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was sworn in on Monday as Malaysia's fifth Prime Minister, one day after scoring a landslide election victory that handed the fundamentalist Islamic Opposition its worst defeat in more than a decade.

Mr. Abdullah, dressed in a sombre black tunic and traditional gold-embroidered cloth wrapped around his waist, took the oath of office before King Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail at the national palace, where he swore to ``fulfill the obligations of this post with honesty and with all my strength''. ``I will be loyal to Malaysia and protect and defend the Constitution,'' Mr. Abdullah pledged.

The ceremony was attended by dozens of top officials including the former longtime leader, Mahathir Mohamad. Shortly afterwards, the Election Commission awarded the last prize at stake — the Assembly in the northern state of Kelantan — to the Islamic party with a narrow three-seat majority after a daylong recount, said the Commission spokesman, Shamsudin Daud.

The Opposition leaders blamed the short eight-day campaign, a shutout by the government-controlled mainstream media, alleged bias by the Election Commission and dirty tricks at polling booths for their losses.

Anwar's wife wins

In a separate recount, Azizah Ismail, wife of the jailed former Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, regained her Parliament seat after initial election results dealt her a 36-vote loss.

Ms. Azizah, leader of the People's Justice Party, became the only one of five party members to be returned to Parliament. She stood in Mr. Anwar's former constituency, which she first won in 1999 after he was jailed.

Allied with Ms. Azizah's party, the Islamic party tripled its parliamentary seatsand captured Terengganu in 1999.

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