Domestic Politics

For the first time in the modern time of the Sultanate, Haitham bin Tariq, the Sultan of Oman, introduced amendments on the transfer of power, naming the Sultanate’s first Crown Prince. The new decree came at the first anniversary of Sultan Haitham’s rule. Dhi Yazan bin Haitham bin Tariq, son of the current Sultan, is the first crown prince of the Sultanate of Oman.

Kuwait’s Cabinet submitted its resignation on Tuesday after tensions with the Parliament. The move, while not a surprise after some 30 lawmakers backed a no-confidence motion against the government this month, reveals how the country is reacting to diminished public confidence and the worst economic crisis in decades. 

In Georgia there will be those, friends and foes, who will in the coming years seek to draw Ivanishvili back into the political fray. It will take a very strong will on his part to resist the challenge or temptation.

Politics in Tunisia in the last decade has been dominated by the rivalry between An Nahda, a mainstream Islam inspired party, and secularists who oppose any interference of religion in the public space. Both seek to resist the Islamist threat, although their approach is different. In the meantime the threat from extremists continues.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has expressed a need to bolster the country’s demining capabilities, referring to demining as the country’s main task in the restoration of the acquired territories in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

In astonishing scenes demonstrators disrupted the work of congress and rummaged through the Capitol building, including in the chambers of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Kazakhs are outraged by comments by Russian politicians questioning their country's territorial integrity. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev rejected the assertion that any Kazakh territory was  a "gift from Russia", and said that such "provocative" comments were intended to "spoil" relations between the two neighbours.

In a recent story published by the Russian newspaper Kommersant, it has been suggested that new political parties are being created by the Kremlin, to satisfy the tastes of those Russians who seek a different kind of politics than that provided by United Russia or other parties currently represented in the Duma.

In the South Caucasus, the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia traditionally address their fellow citizens on new year's eve, summing up the year that is ending and welcoming the new year just before the stroke of midnight. It is an old Soviet tradition, that has lingered. This year the messages could not have been more different.