General Elections held in Malaysia; Najib Rajak led coalition retains power in Malaysia; Attack on Myanmar Embassy foiled in Indonesia; Philippines and Russia sign customs mutual administrative agreement; Chinese ship damages centuries-old Philippine reef
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    • In the General Elections, held on May 5, 2013, the ruling National Front Coalition has emerged victorious. Results have certainly verified the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Rajak, the leader of the National front Coalition. His coalition captured 122 of Malaysia’s 222 parliamentary seats to win a simple majority. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s three-party alliance seized 57 seats. However, the opposition leader Anwar signalled the opposition might dispute the results, saying irregularities cost his alliance numerous seats with narrow margins. Within minutes of the National Front’s declaration of victory, thousands of Malaysian opposition supporters replaced their Facebook profile photos with black boxes in a coordinated sign of dismay. The Election Commission estimated more than 10 million voted for a record turnout of 80 per cent of 13 million registered voters. They were also voting to fill vacancies in 12 of Malaysia’s 13 state legislatures. 1 During the elections, eighty per cent of the 12.99 million registered voters cast their votes at all 8,245 voting centers across the country. 2
    In another development, in Jakarta, the Indonesian police arrested two men for an alleged plot to bomb the embassy of Myanmar to protest how the country treats Muslims. The incident is indicative of the fact that Myanmar's sectarian unrest has spread outside the country and could further encourage extremists. Hundreds of Indonesian police were deployed around Myanmar's embassy in Jakarta on May 3, 2013 after they stopped what could have been a deadly attack. An elite anti-terror squad on May 2, 2013 arrested two men armed with explosives and alleged ties to terrorist networks and recent attacks on police. 3

    According to the Philippine information agency report published on May 4, 2013, the Philippines and Russia has signed a historic Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement in Manila on April 24, 2013. The country’s campaign against border security breaches and transnational crimes, including smuggling, got a big boost with the signing of the agreement. The landmark agreement establishes the connectivity of the two customs administrations in strengthening cooperation to fight transnational crimes, commercial fraud and the prevention of customs offenses. The cooperation also prevents breaches of customs laws to protect the economic, fiscal, social and commercial interests of both countries, including the assurance for appropriate and efficient customs duty collection. 4

    In other developments, according to reports, Thailand has imposed a provisional safeguard duty on import of Indian rolled flat steel products of a certain specification, a major export from India. The move comes close on the heels of the Indonesian government deciding to continue anti-dumping duty against two leading Indian steel firms — JSW Steel and Essar Steel. The 33.11 per cent duty, which has been imposed by Thailand's Department of Foreign Trade (DFT) from February 27, would continue to be in effect till the first week of August. This is expected to adversely impact the fortunes of India's steel industry. The duty imposed by Thailand would be in effect against imports from other nations too. 5
    According to reports, a Chinese fishing vessel crashed into one of the Philippines' most famous reefs. Around 3,902 square metres of coral was destroyed after the boat became stranded in the Tubbataha marine park - a UNESCO World Heritage-listed coral reef - the park management said on May 4, 2013. 6

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