25 / 32
25
FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2020
Philippines
backs WHO’s
leadership in
fight against
COVID-19
Page 26
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (AP) — The
ruling liberal party secured a re-
sounding victory in South Korea’s
Parliamentary elections, which had
the highest turnout in nearly three
decades despite the coronavirus
pandemic forcing social distancing
at polling places.
The ruling Democratic Party and
a satellite party it created to win
proportional representative seats
combined to win 180 seats in the
300-seat National Assembly, elec-
tion oficials said as they completed
vote-counting yesterday.
Meanwhile, conservatives suffered
their worst showing in the densely
populated Seoul metropolitan area
in years. The comfortable majority
will likely embolden President Moon
Jae-in’s government to pursue its key
domestic and foreign objectives,
such as reviving diplomacy with nu-
clear-armed rival North Korea, while it
grapples with a historic public health
crisis that is shuttering businesses and
threatening livelihoods.
Moon in a statement thanked
the country’s “great people” for “giv-
ing strength to a government that’s
ighting desperately to overcome
a national crisis. “We feel heavy re-
sponsibility, which outweighs our
joy of winning the election,” Demo-
cratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan said
in a party meeting. “We will make
preemptive and aggressive efforts
to overcome the novel coronavirus
crisis and the threat it poses to liveli-
hoods and the national economy.”
Hwang Kyo-ahn, who led the
conservative United Future Party,
stepped down as chairman after los-
ing to a Democratic Party candidate
in a key Seoul district and apologised
to supporters for “failing to prevent
the country from going in a wrong
direction at an important time”.
More than 17 million South Kore-
ans voted onWednesday. When com-
bined with the 11.8 million early and
mailed-in votes, turnout was 66.2 per
cent, the highest since 71.9 per cent
turnout in a 1992 general election, the
National Election Commission said.
Analysts struggled to explain
the surprisingly high turnout. Some
said fear and alertness over the
pandemic may have driven voters
to support Moon’s government so it
could ight the virus and its impact
with more political stability.
Before the virus began absorb-
ing public attention, Moon’s sup-
port was faltering over a decaying
job market, corruption scandals
surrounding key political allies and
troubled ties with North Korea.
But surveys ahead of the polls indi-
catedgrowingsupport, relectingpub-
lic approval of an aggressive test-and-
quarantine programme credited with
lowering fatality rates for COVID19
compared to China and some places
in Europe and North America.
South Korean ruling party wins vote held amid virus fears
Chairperson of the Election Campaign Committee of the ruling Democratic Party Lee Hae-chan places a sticker onto one of the party’s winning candidates’ photographs for Parliamentary election
at the National Assembly in Seoul. PHOTO: AP
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND (AP) —
ANewZealand ireighter was killed by
a stag that attacked himon his farm.
Police said the man was at-
tacked on Wednesday evening at
his property in the town of Makar-
ewa and suffered fatal injuries. Po-
lice said the stag was euthanised
and a coroner would investigate
the man’s death.
Ben McLean had been a vol-
unteer and professional ire-
ighter for 43 years, according
to the New Zealand Professional
Fireighters Union.
It said McLean’s own colleagues
had been called out to respond to
the attack.
“He was highly respected by his
crews and colleagues and will be
remembered as a true character of
the Invercargill brigade,” National
Secretary Wattie Watson said in a
statement. McLean helped ight
a house ire the night before his
death, Stuff reported.
It is currently the mating sea-
son for deer in New Zealand, a time
when stags can become more ag-
gressive and combative.
New Zealand firefighter killed on
his farm by stag
DHAKA, BANGLADESH (AP) —Ban-
gladesh’s coast guard has rescued
382 starving Rohingya refugees
who had been drifting at sea for
weeks after failing to reach Malay-
sia, oficials said yesterday.
The refugees, mostly women
and children, were attempting to
land on Bangladesh’s coast in the
Teknaf area in Cox’s Bazar late on
Wednesday night, said local head
of the coast guard Lt Comm M
Sohel Rana.
Oficials gave varying accounts
of whether those rescued had been
among the hundreds of thousands
of Rohingya who are living in refu-
gee camps in Bangladesh.
Rana said the refugees started
their journey for Malaysia about two
months ago and had been drifting at
sea for weeks. “They failed to reach
Malaysia and returned,” he said.
Superintendent of police in
Cox’s Bazar A B M Masud Hossain,
said those rescued were lured by
trafickers and the owner of the
boat was a Myanmar national.
Others said the rescued refu-
gees were from Bangladesh camps.
An intelligence oficial who
talked to at least 10 refugees at
the scene said that the refugees
were from various camps in Cox’s
Bazar district.
He spoke on condition of ano-
nymity as he was not authorised
to speak to the media.
The intelligence oficial said
that the boat attempted to land
on Malaysia’s coast at least seven
times but their attempts were
thwarted. He said one refugee
told him that several people died
on the journey.
Bangladesh rescues 382 Rohingya drifting
at sea for weeks