SINGAPORE -- For Malaysia's deputy prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, the sequence of two fast-moving events late last month could not have been more timely -- and dramatic.
First was the shocking announcement of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on June 22 -- at the conclusion of the general assembly of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the backbone of the ruling National Front (NF) coalition government -- that he would resign from his concurrent positions of prime minister and party president.
The next day came the equally shocking news of the death of Fadzil Noor, the president of the main opposition and UMNO's archrival, the theocratic Islamic Party (PAS), following a heart operation. His demise paved the way for two keenly contested by-elections for the parliamentary and state assembly seats.