Introducing the 29th edition of The PEP Weekly Digest, where we present to you the most recent updates and news on the global political stage.

Recent and upcoming elections influence the worldwide political landscape in eight nations, slated between December 10, 2023 and January 13, 2024. These elections hold significant importance, as they will determine the direction and governance of each respective country’s future.

One noteworthy event has occurred in Australia, the current treasurer of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, will be the territory’s new chief minister. Lawler will replace the outgoing chief minister, Natasha Fyles, who resigned after it was uncovered she owned undisclosed shares in a mining company with interests in the territory. A statement from Lawler’s office late Wednesday confirmed her appointment. The current attorney general, Chanston Paech, will be deputy chief minister.

Shifting our focus to Burkina Faso, Military Leader Captain Ibrahim Traore fired his foreign minister in a mini-reshuffle, according to a decree read on national television. Jean Marie Traore Karamoko, the minister delegate for regional cooperation, was named as the new foreign minister, replacing Olivia Rouamba, who served in the position for about two years. The sacking of Rouamba came as a surprise, according to analysts, because she was said to be in Traore’s close circle. Traore also named Stella Kabre, who until recently served as consul general of Burkina Faso in Milan, Italy, as the new regional cooperation minister. Traore led a coup in September 2022 to become the West African country’s new leader after ousting Paul Henri-Damiba, who had also come to power in January that year through an overthrow of then-president Roch Kabore.

In Ghana, Lieutenant General Joseph Henry Smith, the former Minister of Defence and Army Commander of the Ghana Armed Forces, commonly known as JH Smith, has passed away. He died at age 78 after a brief illness. Family sources have confirmed that he died on the morning of Tuesday, December 19. In addition to his distinguished military career, Lieutenant General JH Smith served as the Minister of Defence during the presidency of John Evans Atta Mills. He also held the position of Ghana’s Ambassador to the USA under the administration of John Mahama.

In the realm of regulatory affairs, In France, a transcontinental police operation against online financial crime has concluded with almost 3,500 arrests and seizures of USD 300 million (approx. EUR 273 million) worth of assets across 34 countries. The six-month Operation HAECHI IV (July-December 2023) targeted seven types of cyber-enabled scams: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud, and e-commerce fraud. Investigators worked together to detect online fraud and freeze associated bank and virtual asset service provider (VASP) accounts using INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP), a stop-payment mechanism which helps countries work together to block criminal proceeds. Cooperation between Filipino and Korean authorities led to the arrest in Manila of a high-profile online gambling criminal after a two-year manhunt by Korea’s National Police Agency. Authorities blocked 82,112 suspicious bank accounts, seizing a combined USD 199 million in hard currency and USD 101 million in virtual assets. “HAECHI IV’s 200 per cent surge in arrests shows the persistent challenge of cyber-enabled crime, reminding us to stay alert and keep refining our tactics against online fraud, which is why INTERPOL operations like this are so important.

Shifting our attention to legal advancements, In India, Justice G. Jayachandran sentenced Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudi to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs.50 lakh on him for a prevention of corruption offence. Ponmudi faced immediate disqualification upon his conviction as it was under Section 8(1) of the People’s Representation Act, 1951—not under Section 8(3), as in the case of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Ponmudi’s wife, P. Visalakshi, the second accused in the case, also received a similar sentence. The judge suspended the sentence for 30 days to enable them to prefer an appeal in the Supreme Court. Both Ponmudi, 72, and his wife submitted their medical records and appealed for a lower quantum of punishment.