KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the country’s first minimum wage on Monday, moving to regain the political initiative after violence at weekend protests raised doubt about the timing of elections that had been expected by June.

Private sector workers in peninsula Malaysia will receive minimum monthly pay of 900 ringgit ($300) while those in the poorer east Malaysia states of Sabah and Sarawak will get 800 ringgit, Najib said in a television address.

That compares with the 760 ringgit per month that, according to a government survey, roughly represents the poverty income line in Malaysia and the gross pay that workers take home in the manufacturing sector.

The new wage policy, part of Malaysia’s plan to achieve rich nation status by 2020, coincides with moves by China, the world’s manufacturing hub, to raise minimum wages by at least 13 percent in the five years to 2015.

“The introduction of the minimum wage is a historic moment for Malaysia. The lowest-paid will now be guaranteed an income that lifts them out of poverty and helps ensure that they can meet the rising cost of living,” Najib said.

The announcement is the latest sign that the government is preparing for elections which must be called by next March but are expected to be held as early as June.

Clashes between police and protesters on Saturday showed political tension is simmering ahead of the polls that are widely expected to be the closest in Malaysia’s history, threatening the ruling coalition’s 55-year grip on power.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak appeared on Monday to have weathered the weekend’s violent electoral reform protest and may still call elections as early as June.

Running battles between protesters and police in Kuala Lumpur highlighted growing tensions in the Southeast Asian nation as it prepares for close elections that could threaten the ruling coalition’s 55-year grip on power.

Najib has been seen as leaning towards an election in June – well before his mandate expires next March – but his appeal to middle-class voters may suffer if accusations of police brutality against the around 25,000 protesters gain traction.

However any political fallout appeared to be limited because protesters were at least partly to blame for the violence, which resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim gave a speech at the rally organised by the independent Bersih movement for election reforms and was accused by some ruling party members and state media of inciting the crowd to break through police barriers.

“That proves that Bersih was hijacked and that Anwar was trying to use it as an election tactic,” Nur Jazlan Mohamed, a member of parliament for the ruling United Malays National Organization, told Reuters. He said Najib would still be inclined to call elections early, possibly in June.

Najib’s approval rating, at a lofty 69 percent in the most recent opinion poll, tumbled last year after a heavy-handed police reaction to a previous Bersih rally for electoral reform.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon in clashes with thousands of protesters demanding electoral reforms on Saturday, raising the risk of a political backlash that could delay national polls which had been expected as early as June.

Riot police reacted after some protesters among the crowd of at least 25,000 tried to break through barriers, in defiance of a court order banning them from entering the city’s historic Merdeka (Independence) Square. They fired dozens of tear gas rounds and chased protesters through nearby streets.

Protesters also battled with police at a train station nearby, throwing bottles and chairs at officers who responded by firing tear gas rounds. A police car was overturned by angry protesters after it hit demonstrators. Most of the protesters had dispersed by early evening but sporadic clashes with police continued.

“They (the police) asked the crowd to disperse but did not give enough warning,” said Aminah Bakri, 27, with tears streaming down her face from the gas.

“They do not care.”

The police reaction could carry risks for Prime Minister Najib Razak if it is seen as too harsh, possibly forcing him to delay elections that must be called by next March but which many observers had expected for June. Najib’s approval rating tumbled after July last year when police were accused of a heavy handed response to the last major electoral reform rally by the Bersih (Clean) group. It has since rebounded to nearly 70 percent.

Some media sites put the number of protesters as high as 100,000, which would make it by far the biggest since “Reformasi” (Reform) demonstrations in 1998 against then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysian police fired tear gas and water cannon in clashes with thousands of protesters demanding electoral reforms on Saturday, raising the risk of a political backlash that could delay national polls which had been expected within months.

Riot police reacted after some protesters among the crowd of at least 25,000 tried to break through barriers, in defiance of a court order banning them from entering the city’s historic Merdeka Square. They fired several dozen tear gas rounds, sending the protesters scattering through nearby streets.

Protesters also battled with police at a train station nearby, throwing bottles and chairs at officers who responded by firing tear gas rounds. Most of the protesters had dispersed about an hour after the violence began, but several hundred remained and were still taunting police.

The violence could carry risks for Prime Minister Najib Razak if it is seen as unjustified, possibly forcing him to delay elections that must be called by next March but which could be held as early as June. Najib’s approval rating tumbled after July last year when police were accused of a heavy handed response to the last major electoral reform rally by the Bersih (Clean) group.

The violence on Saturday occurred shortly after a Bersih leader declared the protest a success and asked people to go home.

“They (the police) asked the crowd to disperse but did not give enough warning,” said Aminah Bakri, 27, with tears streaming down her face from the tear gas.

“They do not care.”

YANGON (Reuters) – Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, said on Thursday that her party’s refusal to take up newly won seats in parliament was a “technical matter” that could be resolved soon, responding to mounting criticism of her stance on the issue.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) says it won’t attend parliament unless the wording of the swearing-in oath is changed – the first sign of major friction with the ruling, army-backed party since the NLD swept historic by-elections on April 1.

In her most detailed explanation of the NLD’s thinking on the issue so far, Suu Kyi told reporters in Yangon on Thursday that the party was seeking to iron out “inconsistency” between the oath and the country’s election laws.

“This is why I say it is a technical matter … You can’t say one thing in one place and another thing in another place. There has to be consistency,” the Nobel Peace Laureate said during a news conference with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi in the garden of her lake-side home.

“You mustn’t forget that this is one of the major issues that prevented us from entering the 2010 elections.”

The NLD is refusing to swear to “safeguard” the 2008 army-created constitution, which guarantees the military a substantial presence in parliament and which Suu Kyi has vowed to amend. It wants the word in the oath changed to “respect.”

Suu Kyi’s party only agreed to rejoin the electoral process last year after similar wording was removed from party registration laws. It boycotted 2010 elections that were widely criticized as rigged in favor of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which still dominates parliament.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s ruling, army-backed party on Monday rejected demands by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to change parliament’s oath of office, the first clear sign of friction since the democracy leader’s party swept historic by-elections.

The dispute marred Monday’s opening of parliament, as Suu Kyi and other members of her party refused to take their seats, denting an image of transformation on a day when the European Union is all but certain to become the first Western power to suspend sanctions that isolated Myanmar for two decades.

The expected EU decision on sanctions would be a boon for Myanmar’s long-stagnant economy and could prompt the United States and Canada to follow suit and pave the way for development loans and a flood of foreign investment in a trove of natural resources such as oil, gas, timber and gemstones.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) wants to replace the words “safeguard the constitution” with “respect the constitution” in the oath sworn by new members of parliament.

Suu Kyi promised supporters that, if elected, she would seek to revise the 2008 army-drafted constitution that gives the military wide powers, including the ability to appoint key cabinet members, take control of the country in a state of emergency and occupy a quarter of seats in parliament.

But the secretary general of the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), Htay Oo, said his party would not introduce any proposal to change the oath.

“The wording would have no impact on the development of the country,” he told Reuters.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s parliament convened on Monday without Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi after her party boycotted the legislature over a disagreement on the wording of the oath of office, just weeks after winning historic by-elections.

The protest by Suu Kyi’s party will dent an image of transformation the government wanted to show off on Monday, when the European Union is all but certain to become the first among Western powers to suspend in earnest sanctions that isolated Myanmar for two decades.

The expected EU decision on sanctions would be a boon for Myanmar’s tattered and long-stagnant economy and could prompt the United States and Canada to follow suit and pave the way for development loans and a flood of foreign investment in its trove of natural resources such as oil, gas, timber and gemstones.

But on the political front, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) deferral of Monday’s lower house debut over a word in the oath members of parliament take is a gamble that could upset the country’s fragile political harmony.

Suu Kyi sought to play down the stalemate and told reporters on Sunday: “We are not boycotting parliament”.

At the heart of the issue is the NLD’s refusal to take the oath to “safeguard” a constitution it wants to amend to reduce the military’s enshrined political role after five decades of brutal and inept army rule. Some say the quibble should have been settled long before now.

“The NLD doesn’t want a confrontation and although it will always take an opposing stance, the timing is all wrong,” said Aung Zaw, a Myanmar expert and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s reformist rulers are looking forward to an eagerly awaited easing of European Union sanctions on Monday but celebrations will be muted over a political stalemate delaying Aung San Suu Kyi’s historic parliamentary debut.

A protest by Suu Kyi’s party over a swearing-in vow for its would-be parliamentarians will dent an image of transformation the government wanted to show off on Monday, when the European Union is all but certain to become the first among Western powers to suspend in earnest sanctions that isolated Myanmar for two decades.

The expected EU decision on sanctions would be a boon for Myanmar’s tattered and long-stagnant economy and could prompt the United States and Canada to follow suit and pave the way for development loans and a flood of foreign investment in its trove of natural resources like oil, gas, timber and gemstones.

But on the political front, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) deferral of Monday’s lower house debut over a word in the oath members of parliament take is seen as an ill-timed gamble with the potential to upset fragile political harmony.

Suu Kyi sought to play down the stalemate and told reporters on Sunday: “We are not boycotting parliament”.

At the heart of the issue is the NLD’s refusal to take the oath to “safeguard” a constitution it wants to amend to reduce the military’s enshrined political role after five decades of brutal and inept army rule. The quibble, analysts say, should have been settled long before now.

“The NLD doesn’t want a confrontation and although it will always take an opposing stance, the timing is all wrong,” said Aung Zaw, a Myanmar expert and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine.

NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (Reuters) – Myanmar’s reformist rulers are looking forward to an eagerly awaited easing of European Union sanctions on Monday but celebrations will be muted over a political stalemate delaying Aung San Suu Kyi’s historic parliamentary debut.

A protest by Suu Kyi’s party over a swearing-in vow for its would-be parliamentarians will dent an image of transformation the government wanted to show off on Monday, when the European Union is all but certain to become the first among Western powers to suspend in earnest sanctions that isolated Myanmar for two decades.

The expected EU decision on sanctions would be a boon for Myanmar’s tattered and long-stagnant economy and could prompt the United States and Canada to follow suit and pave the way for development loans and a flood of foreign investment in its trove of natural resources like oil, gas, timber and gemstones.

But on the political front, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy’s (NLD) deferral of Monday’s lower house debut over a word in the oath members of parliament take is seen as an ill-timed gamble with the potential to upset fragile political harmony.

Suu Kyi sought to play down the stalemate and told reporters on Sunday: “We are not boycotting parliament”.

At the heart of the issue is the NLD’s refusal to take the oath to “safeguard” a constitution it wants to amend to reduce the military’s enshrined political role after five decades of brutal and inept army rule. The quibble, analysts say, should have been settled long before now.

“The NLD doesn’t want a confrontation and although it will always take an opposing stance, the timing is all wrong,” said Aung Zaw, a Myanmar expert and editor of the Thailand-based Irrawaddy magazine.