Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has announced he will step down as premier in March next year, not 2010 as he had previously suggested. With no signs of recovery since a disastrous election, Abdullah's own party made it impossible for him to continue in his post. But ousting Abdullah will not automatically win back voters that have deserted the ruling coalition in droves. Abdullah's successor, Najib Razak, has so far shown no signs of wanting to challenge the opposition coalition's multiracial vision for Malaysia.

Abdullah announced his decision on 8 October following a meeting with leaders of the 13 parties that make up the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. “I will hand over power to... Najib after he wins the election at the general assembly. I am sure he will win,” he told the press conference.

“It is not the time for us to indulge in infighting or engage in narrow politics, it is now time for us to strengthen our unity and co-operate among ourselves and place the interests of the country above all.”

Although Abdullah canvassed opinions at the meeting, nothing would have altered his decision to quit just before the United Malays National Organization (Umno) annual general meeting in March 2009. As AsiaInt pointed out last week, the Umno Supreme Council's postponement of the general meeting from December to March provided Abdullah with his cue to bring forward his resignation date.

Since the election in March, Abdullah has fought to save his political career. He was helped initially by the fact that Umno was divided over how to proceed with resurrecting BN's appeal, with many senior members concerned that a campaign to oust the prime minister could sully the party's reputation further and exacerbate internal divisions. This provided Abdullah with a window of opportunity to show he could seize the initiative back from a resurgent opposition.

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Asia seems prepared to return to state spending to fund its infrastructure programmes at a time when the world's banks will inevitably shy away from high-risk financing. - Asian Infrastructure, October 2008

It is almost spooky how several Asian governments have recently announced a return to state or domestically-financed infrastructure projects, some less than a month before the global credit crunch which saw a handful of the biggest names in banking crumble in mid-September.

In some countries such as China, which has built up huge reserves, foreign investors (beyond Hong Kong) have never penetrated deep into the develolpment and operation of public transport projects. The west's role has been to provide technology, much of which has been transferred to China's manufacturing facilities, and western suppliers feel the threat of obsoletion. China has been determined to become self-sufficient in the infastructure arena for some time.

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