Scott Morrison set to become new Australian PM
Canberra, Aug 24 : Former treasurer Scott Morrison is set to become Australia's 30th Prime Minister following a leadership vote on Friday, ending a week of chaos.
A member of the party's conservative faction and former immigration minister, Morrison defeated former Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton by 45 votes to 40 at a closed door leadership vote earlier in the day, reports CNN.
It followed days of speculation and confusion over whether now former leader Malcolm Turnbull, who took office in 2015, could maintain his grip on the premiership in the face of a conservative uprising.
The leadership crisis began on Tuesday following a backlash in the ruling Liberal Party over Turnbull's climate change policy, which would have legislated the Paris Agreement goals.
The right-wing of the party would prefer greater investment in the country's coal sector and policies to lower Australians' power prices.
Dutton, a leader in the party's conservative faction, stood against Turnbull for the leadership in a vote on Tuesday, losing only narrowly by 48 votes to 35 and all but guaranteeing a second vote.
But as Dutton's momentum began to grow, Morrison put his hand up for the leadership in the face of questions over Dutton's eligibility to sit in parliament.
Turnbull said on Thursday that he would step down and leave Parliament following the vote, potentially cracking the government's slender one-seat majority and leading to a by-election or even a general election.
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Man accused of rape-murder of 5-year-old lynched to death in Bengal; Girl’s body found in pond
Alipurduar: A 40-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a five-year-old girl was allegedly tied to a tree and beaten to death by agitated locals in Alipurduar district located in West Bengal on Friday evening. Later, another man surrendered before the police claiming he was also involved in the crime, and was subsequently arrested.
The girl went missing on Friday evening. When her family began searching for the girl, they learned that she had last been seen with Mona Roy, as reported by the Indian Express.
The police said that the girl’s body was found floating in a local pond. They added that the locals caught Roy and took him to his residence where they allegedly noticed blood on the bed. Enraged by this, they tied Roy to a tree and started assaulting him.
Roy was beaten to death before the local police could reach the spot.
When the police arrived at the scene, angry locals prevented them from moving the two bodies. Eventually, a large team of police personnel was sent to the location. After two hours, they were able to remove the bodies from the area.
The bodies have been sent for a post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, a man named Bhakta Roy approached the police, claiming that he was involved in the crime and feared for his safety from the angry mob. He was subsequently arrested.
Y. Raghuvanshi, Superintendent of Police, Alipurduar, asserted it is a heinous crime, adding that they have started a detailed investigation in connection to the incident.
