Pakistan’s Khan will not challenge military's power

Subject Military influence in Pakistan. Significance Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa earlier this month visited Beijing to reassure China about Pakistan’s commitment to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Pakistan’s military strongly influences the country’s policy. It is widely believed that Prime Minister Imran Khan had the military’s support in winning the July general election. Impacts Any meeting between Khan and US President Donald Trump is likely to be uncomfortable, further straining Pakistan-US ties. Pakistan will strongly defend its commitment to CPEC. The state will increase harassment of political opponents and civil society critics.

Subject Declining threat of India's Maoists. Significance Some 62 Naxalites -- Maoist rebels -- recently surrendered to security forces in Chhattisgarh, where around 125,000 police and paramilitary troops were deployed to safeguard this week’s first phase of the state elections, which the Naxalites want boycotted. Home Minister Rajnath Singh last month said Naxalites would be eliminated in India within 1-3 years. Impacts The government is unlikely to prioritise land reform in the lead-up to the 2019 general election. Some states are likely to see outbreaks of Hindu-Muslim religious violence ahead of the national poll. Singh will likely remain home minister if Prime Minister Narendra Modi wins a second term.


Significance The Keystone XL extension is a major new proposed oil pipeline project, with implications for US-Canada trade (at a time of uncertainty surrounding NAFTA negotiations), Canadian oil producers, and the global oil market. Its prospects suffered a blow in November when Nebraska state regulators rejected the pipeline builder TransCanada’s preferred route, opting instead for a lengthier path through the state. Impacts Nebraska’s economy could lose out on millions of dollars in revenue if Keystone XL does not go ahead. US President Donald Trump could be hurt politically if a project that he so publicly backed falls through. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faces provincial and local opposition to new pipeline projects.


Significance Uncollected waste has been piling up in the capital since the country's largest landfill closed on July 17. Prime Minister Tammam Salam has threatened to resign over the crisis, which has also seen mass protests organised by civil society groups. The protests raise questions over Lebanon's resilience in the face of domestic political paralysis and regional turmoil. Impacts Protest escalation could force resignation of prime minister or individual ministers, and throw Lebanon into a constitutional crisis. Destabilisation of the state could encourage Sunni militants to seek to control areas in Tripoli, the north and the Beka'a Valley. Turmoil in Lebanon could distract Hezbollah from its war effort in Syria, thereby weakening Syrian regime's territorial control. A political crisis in Lebanon would heighten regional tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.


Subject Cooperative measures among Malaysian opposition parties and civil society groups. Significance A grouping of opposition critics of Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has announced a series of 'roadshow' protests including a public 'Save Malaysia' protest meeting on March 28, to be attended by various leading political figures. This follows the March 4 signing of the Citizens' Declaration, the latest challenge to Najib and his government in the wake of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) controversy. Impacts The government will probably permit protests for now, to gauge their degree of support. The Save Malaysia group will seek thousands of public signatories of the Declaration. Political proxy fighting at the state level could unnerve investors.


Subject The nationally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's ambitions in West Bengal state. Significance West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee last month issued a fresh challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as she turned attention to the 2021 state election. In the recent general election, the BJP won just four fewer parliamentary seats in West Bengal than Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (TMC). Impacts There will be frequent outbreaks of violence between TMC and BJP cadres in West Bengal. Banerjee will encourage external investment in the state and promise new jobs, hoping to appeal to voters. The BJP’s rhetoric over immigration could strain India’s relations with Bangladesh.


Significance Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is preparing to welcome a more predictable and stable partner in Biden than outgoing Republican President Donald Trump. However, Biden is also expected quickly to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline, cutting another lifeline to Canada’s oil industry and creating some strain in Canada-US ties. Impacts Improved Canada-US ties will persist even if Trudeau loses the next federal election to Conservative Erin O’Toole. Canada will re-engage militarily with UN peacekeeping and NATO deployments. Trudeau will encourage Biden to end US prosecution of Meng Wanzhou, allowing Canada to release her; Biden may agree. Canada’s border with the United States will open in stages as COVID-19 recedes. Ottawa will push Biden to end ‘Buy American’ procurement policies, with little success.


Significance The assassination follows months of political turmoil and rising gang violence and comes just weeks before elections, scheduled for September 26. Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has taken charge of the country, said yesterday that measures were being taken “to guarantee the continuity of the state and to protect the nation". Impacts Further political assassinations would exacerbate unrest. The Dominican Republic has closed its border, fearing a migrant surge; the situation will bolster public support there for a border wall. The UN Security Council meets today and may authorise emergency action in Haiti; any substantial redeployment, however, would take time.


Significance However, the departure of former US President Donald Trump -- who was an enthusiastic supporter of Brexit and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- has made this harder to achieve. Impacts Johnson will consider holding a snap election in 2023 to capitalise on the successful vaccination campaign and economic reopening. The failure to conclude a US-UK FTA would increase the prospects of an EU-UK veterinary agreement. Without a UK-EU veterinary agreement, the chances of persistent disruption on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will grow.


Significance National and state leaders of his Democratic Party had been pressing Cuomo to resign since last week’s publication of a report from State Attorney-General Letitia James detailing his sexual harassment of eleven women, including state employees. Cuomo’s impeachment by the state legislature was looking all but certain by the time he resigned. Impacts Prosecutors in five New York State counties will continue to pursue separate criminal investigations despite Cuomo’s resignation. The State Assembly may complete the impeachment process, despite Cuomo’s resignation, in order to prevent him from running again. Cuomo will continue to talk up his liberal polices, his opposition to Donald Trump, and his leadership during the pandemic.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 57-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Funston

The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) and its allies in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, known as the Alliance until 1974, dominated Malaysian elections for more than six decades. UMNO's winning formula was based on massive support for the politically dominant Malay community, and mobilising government institutions in support of the party. This was undermined towards the end of the 1990s by UMNO disunity, a strengthened civil society, and arrival of a digital media. Demands for comprehensive political and economic reforms ( reformasi) emerged following the controversial sacking of Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in 1998. UMNO had its worst result ever in the 1999 election, a trend that continued in 2008 and 2013 when BN lost its popular and two-thirds majority. Najib's attempt to reverse this by strengthening the call for Malay dominance and tightening coercion failed. His deep implication in multiple corruption cases, tactical campaign errors, and a united opposition, Pakatan Harapan, led to the BN's stunning defeat.


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