Domestic Politics

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) have started a forty days mourning period after the death was announced yesterday of the country's second president, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan. Khalifa succeeded his father as Ruler of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE in 2004. However since 2014, following a stroke, he has played only a symbolic role in public life, with most day to day government decisions taken by his heir and brother, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed. Sheikh Khalifa was laid to rest on Saturday (14 May) in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi.  The United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates, each of which still have control over many internal issues. However all defence, foreign policy and security issues are decided at the federal level. The accession of Sheikh Mohammed as president is not automatic, since the rulers of the seven emirates will have to meet in the next thirty days to formally elect the new president. But tradition and real politik has it that the Ruler of Abu Dhabi, by far the richest and the strongest of the seven emirates, gets the position of President.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan announced Thursday (5 May) that on 5 June, a constitutional referendum will take place. The referendum will ask voters to approve an overhauled constitution that the government say will launch Kazakhstan’s Second Republic. To modernize Kazakhstan, Tokayev will need to implement deep-rooted reforms to institute substantial reforms, in practice and not merely in a declaratory fashion as was the habit with his predecessor. The constitutional changes are seen as a good start, but can certainly not be the end of the story if the promise of a new Kazakhstan is to be delivered.

Across the world hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities to mark International Workers Day - often referred to simply as May Day. Citizens and trade unions in cities around Europe are taking to the streets for May Day marches, and to put out protest messages to their governments. In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was set for Rome with rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides work, peace was an underlying theme with calls for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Italy's three main labour unions were focusing their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests. This year's slogan is "Working for peace". May Day is also a big day for left wing parties and organisations in Turkey, where large May Day rallies also took place this year. May 1 was chosen as International Workers Day in 1889 Congress of the Socialist International which met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day.

Burkina Faso and Guinea have requested additional time to present a plan to hand back power to civilians and reinstate democratic rule following an ultimatum by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which had set a deadline for Monday, 25 April. In Conakry as in Ouagadougou, where the military recently seized power by force, the transitional authorities are asking for more time to pursue consultations, according to an ECOWAS communiqué issued on 27 April. The potential impact of these sanctions on poor, landlocked countries has caused great concern, but also widespread resentment, beyond Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso, against regional organisations.

There was a sigh of relief across Europe on the news of the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the French presidential elections held on Sunday (24 April), thwarting an attempt to unseat him by far right candidate Marie Le Pen. Many in Europe are describing the outcome as a win for the European Union.  "Bravo Emanuel", European Council president Charles Michel wrote on twitter. “In this turbulent period, we need a solid Europe and a France totally committed to a more sovereign and more strategic European Union.” Whilst Macron was always the favorite to win, European countries watched anxiously as his lead in opinion polls narrowed in the days before the ballot. A victory for Le Pen, a deeply eurosceptic politician who has professed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, would have had huge implications for the stability of the EU. Le Pen had long flirted with the idea of leaving the bloc, although she insisted during her campaign that she had no “secret agenda” this time for quitting the group or the euro single currency.