VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Malaysia's newly appointed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday his primary focus would be on the cost of living as he takes office with a slowing economy and a country deeply split after a close election.

Anwar, 75, was sworn in as premier on Thursday, capping a three-decade political journey from a protege of veteran leader Mahathir Mohamad to protest leader, a prisoner convicted of sodomy and opposition figurehead.

Anwar, who was appointed by Malaysia's king on Thursday following an inconclusive election, said his primary concern was the economy and he would have a smaller cabinet than those of previous administrations.

"My priority now is addressing the cost of living," he told a news conference after reporting for duty at the prime minister's office.

Anwar has yet to announce any cabinet appointments for his coalition government. He had earlier indicated there would be two deputy prime ministers in his cabinet - one from former ruling alliance Barisan and another from smaller political blocs in Malaysia Borneo.

His appointment ended five days of unprecedented post-election crisis.

His rival, former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin, had refused to concede, challenging Anwar to prove his majority in parliament. But on Friday, Muhyiddin said he accepted Anwar's appointment and his bloc would play the role of the opposition.

The campaign for Saturday's election pitted Anwar's progressive, multi-ethnic coalition against Muhyiddin's mostly conservative ethnic-Malay, Muslim alliance.

But neither leader won a majority, which raised the risk of a standoff exacerbating instability in ethnically diverse Malaysia, which has had three prime ministers in as many years.

The wrangling also risked delaying policy decisions needed to foster economic recovery.

The constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, defused the crisis by appointing Anwar after consultations with various politicians.

Anwar had over the course of his career been denied the premiership despite getting within striking distance several times. He also spent nearly a decade in jail for sodomy and corruption after what he says were politically motivated convictions.

"Anwar’s tasks have just started, to unite a very polarised and divided nation, based on race and religion," said former lawmaker and coalition ally Lim Kit Siang.

Markets surged on Thursday on the end of political deadlock, but investors will be monitoring how Anwar manages the aftermath of the election.

Malaysian stocks on Friday morning were (.KLSE) flat, after 4% gains the previous day, while the ringgit extended gains, up nearly 1%.

TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY

Anwar's supporters expressed hope that his government would avert a return to historic tensions between the ethnic Malay, Muslim majority and ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

Anwar's coalition, known as Pakatan Harapan, won the most seats in Saturday's vote with 82, while Muhyiddin's Perikatan Nasional bloc won 73. They needed 112 - a simple majority - to form a government.

The long-ruling Barisan bloc won only 30 seats - the worst electoral performance for a coalition that had dominated politics since independence in 1957.

Anwar said on Thursday the Barisan and an alliance of parties from Malaysian Borneo had pledged to support his government.

On Friday, he said another Borneo bloc had also joined, giving him the backing of more than two-thirds of members of the 222-seat parliament.

A two-thirds majority will allow Anwar's government to amend the constitution. No Malaysian government has held such a majority in the lower house since 2008.

Muhyiddin's bloc includes the Islamist party PAS, whose electoral gains raised concern within the ethnic Chinese and Indian communities, most of whose members follow other faiths.

Authorities have warned of a rise in ethnic tension since the vote on social media and short video platform TikTok said this week was on high alert for content that violated its guidelines.

Another looming issue for Anwar to deal with is the budget for next year, which was proposed before the election was called but has yet to be passed.

Anwar said he would convene parliament on Dec. 19 for a vote of confidence to prove his majority in the lower house. (Reuters)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday called on Europeans to remain united against Russia's war and to severely limit the price for Russian oil.

"There is no split, there is no schism among Europeans and we have to preserve this. This is our mission number one this year," Zelenskiy said in an address via a live video link to a conference in Lithuania.

"Europe is helping itself. It's not helping Ukraine to stand against Russia, this is helping Europe to stand against Russian aggression", he added.

Much of Ukraine remained without heat or power after the most devastating Russian air strikes on its energy grid so far, and in Kyiv residents were warned to brace for further attacks and stock up on water, food and warm clothing. read more

European Union governments remained split on Thursday over what level to cap Russian oil prices at to curb Moscow's ability to pay for the war, and Zelenskiy called on the EU leaders to settle on the lowest proposal of $30.

"The price cuts are very important. We hear about (proposals to set the cap per barrel at) $60 or $70. Such words sound more like a concession (to Russia)", Zelesnkiy said.

"But I'm very grateful to our Baltic and Polish colleagues for their proposals, quite reasonable ones, to set this camp at $30 per barrel. It's a much better idea", he added.

The EU states failed to reach a deal on the price level for Russian sea-borne oil on Wednesday because a Group of Seven nations (G7) proposal for a cap of $65-70 per barrel was seen as far to high by some and too low by others.

Poland wants the cap to be set at $30, arguing that with Russian production costs that some estimate at $20 per barrel, the G7 proposal would allow Moscow too much profit. Lithuania and Estonia back Poland. (Reuters)

Ghana's government is working on a new policy to buy oil products with gold rather than U.S. dollar reserves, Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Facebook on Thursday.

The move is meant to tackle dwindling foreign currency reserves coupled with demand for dollars by oil importers, which is weakening the local cedi and increasing living costs.

Ghana's Gross International Reserves stood at around $6.6 billion at the end of September 2022, equating to less than three months of imports cover. That is down from around $9.7 billion at the end of last year, according to the government.

If implemented as planned for the first quarter of 2023, the new policy "will fundamentally change our balance of payments and significantly reduce the persistent depreciation of our currency," Bawumia said.

Using gold would prevent the exchange rate from directly impacting fuel or utility prices as domestic sellers would no longer need foreign exchange to import oil products, he explained.

"The barter of gold for oil represents a major structural change," he added.

The proposed policy is uncommon. While countries sometimes trade oil for other goods or commodities, such deals typically involve an oil-producing nation receiving non-oil goods rather than the opposite.

Ghana produces crude oil but it has relied on imports for refined oil products since its only refinery shut down after an explosion in 2017.

Bawumia's announcement was posted as Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced measures to cut spending and boost revenues in a bid to tackle a spiraling debt crisis.

In a 2023 budget presentation to parliament on Thursday, Ofori-Atta warned the West African nation was at high risk of debt distress and that the cedi's depreciation was seriously affecting Ghana's ability to manage its public debt.

The government is negotiating a relief package with the International Monetary Fund as the cocoa, gold and oil-producing nation faces its worst economic crisis in a generation. (Reuters)

Frustration simmered in China among residents and business groups navigating stricter COVID-19 control curbs as the country reported on Friday another historic high of daily infections just weeks after hopes were raised of easing measures.

The resurgence of COVID cases in China, with 32,695 new local infections recorded for Thursday as numerous cities report outbreaks, has prompted widespread lockdowns and other curbs on movement and business, as well as pushback.

The French Chamber of Commerce in China called for authorities to properly implement COVID "optimisation" measures it announced two weeks ago, in a statement widely shared on social media after the French embassy posted it on its Twitter-like Weibo account on Thursday.

The 20 measures, which include shortened quarantines and other more targeted steps, had "given hope" to French companies for more bilateral trade and economic exchanges, but "good policies also need to be implemented in a uniform manner and without adding layers of other contradicting policies", the chamber's statement said.

The announcement of the 20 measures, just as rising cases prompted an increasingly heavy response under China's strict zero-COVID approach, has caused widespread confusion and uncertainty in big cities, including Beijing, where many residents are locked down at home.

At the world's largest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, more than 20,000 new hires have left after COVID-induced worker unrest this week, further imperilling output at Apple supplier Foxconn's plant there, Reuters reported on Friday.

References to a speech by a man in the southwestern city Chongqing who called for the government to admit its mistakes on COVID were shared widely on Chinese social media, despite the work of censors.

"Give me liberty or death," the bespectacled man told onlooking residents at the gate of a compound in an impassioned speech on Thursday, according to videos seen by Reuters.

"There is only one disease in the world and that is being both poor and not having freedom," he added. "We have now got both. We're still struggling and suffering over a little cold."

The man was later seen being bundled towards a police car by security personnel, prompting angry shouts from onlookers.

Hashtags related to the man, who netizens have called "Chongqing's superman brother" or "Chongqing hero" were censored on Friday. But individual users continued to show support by posting subtle messages or cartoon pictures of him.

ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES?

As lockdowns afflict more people, some residents are proposing alternative approaches for their communities. In Beijing, residents of some compounds shared on WeChat proposals for how infected neighbours could quarantine at home if they did not display serious symptoms.

It's not clear whether such proposals would succeed.

Notices listing the circumstances under which health workers may remove a person from their home, aimed at educating people of their rights if asked to be taken to a quarantine centre, were also circulated online.

Oxford Economics senior economist Louise Loo said in a note that reports of public dissatisfaction across provinces in partial or full lockdowns have gained momentum, as was the case during the last big outbreak in April, although these "don't yet reflect large-scale collective action".

"As before, we expect officials to be able to respond swiftly to stem the social risk of escalating protests, either through a combination of heavier-handed information controls or with piecemeal easing of restrictions," Loo said.

Although the April outbreak was concentrated in Shanghai, case clusters this time are numerous and far-flung.

The southern city of Guangzhou and southwestern Chongqing have recorded the bulk of cases, although hundreds of new infections have been reporting daily in cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Jinan, Lanzhou, Xian and Wuhan.

Guangzhou, a city in the south of nearly 19 million people, reported 7,524 new locally transmitted cases, while Chongqing reported 6,500 cases.

Beijing reported 1,860 cases on Thursday, while the northern city of Shijiazhuang saw numbers quadruple. (Reuters)