Displaying items by tag: Politics

On 26 December the Knesset disbanded and called elections for 9 April. The same day, Mahmoud Abbas disbanded the Palestinian legislature, with a view to 2019 elections. Many say it is hard to see how new parliamentary elections can take place in the West Bank and Gaza at the same time. ‘When Abbas dissolves the Palestinian parliament and the Knesset dissolves itself in the same week, Hamas smells trouble’. There is concern that Israel will block Qatari financial aid and seek an excuse to suspend the cease-fire deal. The Zionist Union, a joint list of the Israeli Labour party and the Hatnuah party, has broken up ahead of the Knesset elections. At the same time the Labour party, which has dominated Israeli politics for the past thirty years, is declining in popularity: see https://worldisraelnews.com/zionist-union-party-dissolves-ahead-of-elections/ An Israeli defence source told Al-Monitor that Israel assumes Hamas is gearing up for another round of widespread violence. The relative calm could end at any moment.

The results of forthcoming elections will be important in many ways - domestic, religious, regional and global. El Salvador elects a president on 3 February: security, corruption and migration will be campaign issues. On 16 February President Buhari seeks re-election in Nigeria, where electoral violence remains a real concern. Ukraine’s presidential election on 31 March will focus on security and the economy. Afghanistan’s fourth presidential election since 2001, on 20 April, will test its capacity to conduct a credible, orderly process amid deteriorating security conditions. In South Africa the ruling ANC, dogged by record-high unemployment and corruption, faces an election test in May following the resignation of President Zuma. European parliamentary elections between 23-26 May will see anti-Europe and Euro-skeptic forces capitalising on anti-immigration and populist economic issues post-Brexit. In Guatemala, general elections in June will focus on the economy, reforms to public administration, migration, and anti-corruption issues that have divided the country over recent years.

In a New Year speech, Kim Jong Un has said that he is prepared to meet Donald Trump at any time, while warning he would pursue an alternative course if Washington kept up sanctions on Pyongyang. He wanted an outcome that would be ‘welcomed by the international community’, but warned the US not to ‘misjudge our patience by unilaterally demanding certain things and pushing ahead with sanctions and pressure’. Kim also said the US should continue its halt to joint military exercises with South Korea and not deploy strategic military assets there. He also called for stronger inter-Korean cooperation, stating that he is ready to resume operations at a jointly-run factory park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong and to restart South Korean tours to the North's Diamond Mountain resort. Neither is possible unless sanctions are removed.

Preachers at the Bethel Church in the Hague have been holding a round-the-clock service for over a month to stop a family of Armenian asylum seekers being deported. The family has lived in the Netherlands for nine years, integrated into the community, and made friends. But a court ruled on 25 October that they must return to Armenia. A centuries-old tradition states that authorities cannot enter a church while a service is taking place, so a service has continued since 26 October. The Tamrazyan family - mother, father, two daughters and a son - are staying inside the church, and therefore avoiding immigration authorities. The family’s asylum issue is still unresolved. The Dutch ‘children's pardon’ grants asylum to children who have lived there for over five years while their asylum application is processed. This action also calls attention to the fate of 400 children in similar circumstances.

On 6 December, delegations from both the Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels began peace talks near Stockholm. Abdullah al-Alimi, a representative of the Yemeni government, tweeted that the conference was ‘a true opportunity for peace’. Mohamed Abdelsalam, who heads the Houthi delegation, promised to ‘spare no effort to make a success of the talks’. Pray for God to quell the scepticism of observers. Pray for the Yemeni government to resist launching an all-out attack on the key port city of Hudaydah, currently controlled by the rebels. The talks began encouragingly, with an agreement to exchange 5,000 prisoners: see

Politicians are challenging Donald Trump’s relationship with Saudi Arabia. Senator Elizabeth Warren said that the president has refused to halt weapons sales because he is more interested in appeasing US defence contractors than in holding the Saudis accountable for Jamal Khashoggi’s murder or for thousands of Yemeni civilians killed by those weapons. Senator Bernie Sanders is equally critical of Trump’s relationship with the Saudis, citing it as an example of his liking of foreign dictators. The Senate voted 63-37 to run with Sanders’ resolution to force Trump to end US support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. That same day, it emerged that Riyadh had confirmed a $15 billion deal with defence contractor Lockheed Martin for a missile defence system. One observer said Trump’s determination to preserve Saudi arms sales was an example of the ‘stranglehold of defence contractors on our military policy’.

The Government proposes to entirely remove fault from divorce law and replace it with a notification system. This would mean one spouse could end their marriage, whenever they wanted, by notifying the court and after a short period of time receive the final divorce decree, amounting to ‘no reason’ divorce. Fault sets out the high aspiration for marriage as a lifelong union. Many believe removing it would increase divorce rates, fundamentally change what marriage means, and increase the number of children living in broken families. Care (Christian Action Research and Education) is concerned that these proposals could fundamentally change what marriage means, leading to unstable situations where individual autonomy is prioritised in the law above children or the marriage. With this in mind Care has produced a short briefing paper with suggested points to make in responding to the consultation using an online form: see ‘More’ for further details. Submissions must be made before 10 December.

Klaus Iohannis, Romania's president, does not believe his country is ready to take over the rotating leadership of the EU on 1 January 2019. He said that 'things have gone off the rails' and there is a 'political necessity to replace the government', which he called an 'accident of democracy'. With the country facing political turmoil, Mr Iohannis has called for the Romanian government to step down instead. His remarks came after the European affairs minister Victor Negrescu, who was tasked with preparing for the EU presidency, unexpectedly resigned last week. Viorica Dancila is Romania's prime minister, but has little executive power. Liviu Dragnea, chairman of the ruling Social Democratic Party, effectively runs the government, but cannot be prime minister because of his previous convictions for fraud and election rigging.

As the security minister, Ben Wallace, launched a new strategy to tackle organised criminal activity that costs the UK economy £37bn a year, the National Crime Agency (NCA) revealed the impact on British citizens. ‘The threat from serious and organised crime has changed rapidly, increasing in both volume and complexity. We know that it now affects more UK citizens, more often, than any other national security threat. It kills more of our citizens than terrorism, war and natural disasters combined.’ The Home Office said there are around 4,600 serious and organised crime groups in the UK, using violence and intimidation in communities to operate and prey on the most vulnerable, including victims of modern slavery and human trafficking. Mr Wallace, said, ‘Many serious criminals think they are above the law. They believe they can defy the British state and act with impunity against our businesses and our way of life. They are wrong.’

Campaigners in Ireland celebrated the end of a ‘medieval’ ban on blasphemy after voters backed removing the offence from the constitution in a referendum. The decision is the latest in a ‘quiet revolution’ of seismic social and political changes in the country. Until recently, Ireland was conservative and dominated by the Catholic Church. Recently Ireland has legalised gay marriage and abortion in popular votes, and is now led by an openly gay Taoiseach. Reflecting the speed of changes, four in five voters under 35 backed the change, while over-65s only approved it by a narrow margin.