Displaying items by tag: economic downturn

Last week we prayed for change and the need for reforms to alter the way Turkey polices, prosecutes, judges, and imprisons its residents. Almost all Kurdish mayors have been replaced by government-appointed administrators. Judges whose verdicts disagree with government diktats are probed and often punished. 63,014 people were prosecuted for insulting President Erdoğan between 2014 and 2019; 9,554 of them were sentenced. A political analyst said Erdoğan's reform program survived only nine days, and his charm offensive is fake and is too little too late. He wants Turkey to continue as a third-world democracy while hoping to lure foreign investment on the same terms as a Western democracy, but investors are leaving. The economy is in freefall, with double-digit inflation and central bank interest rates up to 15%, while unemployment rises sharply. Erdogan promises to democratise, hoping to reverse the economic downfall, but that will not happen without real reforms.

In 2017 Emmanuel Macron won 66% of the vote to become France's youngest-ever president. It was the first time in half a century that France had a president from outside its two main political parties. An incumbent's first term in office usually defines his political identity and policy agenda. But three years into a five-year term, in trying to win support from a politically diverse electorate, Macron has failed to define his political agenda or his natural political base. With preparation for re-election in 2022 firmly on his mind, he faces a series of challenges. His LREM party took a thrashing in recent local elections, a clear rebuke for tying his potential next term to a robust environmental and social agenda. The crushing of LREM's candidate in Paris' mayoral race was particularly embarrassing for the party.