WORLD THIS WEEK

Chrishari de Alwis Gunasekare, Sourina Bej, Aparupa Bhattacherjee, Harini Madhusudan

Contributed by National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru*

Sri Lanka: Parliamentary elections held amidst COVID-19; Rajapaksas win ‘supermajority’

What happened?

The General Election in Sri Lanka to form a new Parliament, which was initially scheduled for April and then postponed to June, was finally held on 5 August, 2020. Despite experiencing a second wave of the coronavirus in mid-July, the voting took place as planned under strict health guidelines and safety measures on the scheduled date.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared victory and is likely to appoint his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister, who has held the role of caretaker since November last year. Their party, Sri Lanka People’s Front, won two-thirds “super majority” of seats needed to form the government.

What is the background?

First, the uncertainties surrounding the elections. After the Presidential elections in 2019 bought Gotabaya Rajapaksa to power, the opposition-controlled Parliament was dissolved in March 2020. Initially, the 16th Parliamentary election of Sri Lanka was scheduled in April. However, with the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and an island-wide curfew in effect, the Election Commission postponed the elections indefinitely, despite the President’s insistence to hold the election as scheduled. Since the constitution calls for a dissolved Parliament to be replaced within the three months, the Election Commission decided to open the polls on 20 June in order to avert a constitutional crisis. However, the election again had to be rescheduled to 5 August.

Second, a look at the contending political parties. The political party with the highest stake in this election was Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) led by the Rajapaksas. The Opposition, on the other hand, was fractured; it was divided between the United National Party (UNP) under former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and the newly formed Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) under the leadership of Sajith Premadasa, which is a breakaway group of UNP. This significantly weakened both parties as neither was able to secure the required number of

Parliamentary seats to challenge SLPP. Besides these parties, the Leftist party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( JVP), now reformed as an alliance named Jathika Jana Balavegaya (NPP) and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) were smaller parties.

Third, the election campaign during the pandemic. The campaigning for the general elections took place in a subdued manner as the Covid-19 Pandemic prevented the candidates from conducting mass rallies. Most activities were conducted through social media, advertisements and through a door to door campaigning in strict compliance with health guidelines, as the candidates tried to connect with the voters from their electorates.

Italy: Former Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to go on trial for blocking ship carrying migrants

What happened?

The Senate in on 30 July voted to lift the immunity of former interior minister and the leader of the opposition Matteo Salvini, thereby initiating a possible trial against the minister for refusing to let a ship carrying 150 migrants dock in Italy in 2019. The prosecutors initiated the charge against the minister in Sicily. They have sought to bring accountability to Salvini’s policy to illegally detain the migrants on a ship operated by a Spanish charity. The trial could start later this year in Sicily, the place where the boat eventually docked after almost three weeks at sea in 2019.

What is the background?

First, Italy is in the front line of two overlapping crises- migration and pandemic. The initiation of the trial against Salvini comes at a time when the country is facing a dual crisis of incoming migrants and the pandemic. Italy has been one of the southern European countries in the front line of Europe’s migration crisis from 2014 to 2017, with thousands of migrants and refugees arriving by boat from Libya. In the first quarter of 2020, ever since the pandemic started, about 12,500 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea. As the migrants keep arriving, the country has an added burden of screening a larger number of people. Also, with a dozen of Bangladeshis migrants (who have arrived in Italy legally) testing positive for the virus, Italy is grappling with imposing the quarantine rules. The migrant centres are filled beyond their capacity with a risk of contagion. In order to stop the spread of the virus, the government has continued to impose strictest initial quarantine rules in the migrant centres leading many to break out. The Italian government had to deploy soldiers in one of the migrant centres in Sicily to stop the breakouts.

Second, the trial is politically motivated but first to bring to justice an anti-immigration policy. As an interior minister from 2018 to 2019, Salvini pursued an antiimmigration policy that drew both criticism and applause. While he was globally criticized for his pushback and denying entry to migrants, domestically, he had the public support who continues to view the migrant influx as a reason for an economic burden. In his tenure, Salvini refused docking rights to several ships captained by Spanish charity nongovernmental organizations.

The present trial charge follows another trial he was slated to face for one of the other ships he declined entry to. The Senate, however, upheld his immunity, in that case, thereby making this case the first when Salvini will have to justify his policy in court. The Senate’s decision to lift Salvini’s immunity this time is also because his anti-immigration policy had led to a split in the ruling coalition. As he left the government in 2019 to join the Opposition, the ruling coalition has since grappled with falling approval ratings but still remains one of the strongest political alliance in the country.

Vietnam: The second wave

What happened?

After a gap of three months, Vietnam has declared a highalert due to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country. Till date, more than 30 cases reported including in its capital Hanoi and business capital Ho Chi Minh City. On 29 July, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Prime Minister, warned the country and stated that every city and province are at risk and warned that this “new” wave is stronger than the previous one.

What is the background?

First, Vietnam has been revered globally as a success story. A centralized quarantine programme and an aggressive contact tracking system have been the reasons for success. During the first wave in February, Vietnam managed to keep its tally to total 450 cases, with zero fatality and none reported to be locally transmitted infections. This was commendable due to two reasons; one, Vietnam is a highly populated country with 95 million people. Second, although it shares a border with China, which has been the source country of the virus, it decided to take a risk and did not close the border unlike the rest of China’s neighbours.

Second, the eagerness to revive the economy could have backfired. Vietnam’s enthusiasm and desperation to open were aided by its initial success and the need to sustain its economy. Vietnam, in June, started domestic travel, schools, and offices. Along with the opening of the job sector, the government to boost the slugging tourism industry encouraged discounts on travel and stay and also provided an incentive for people to travel. This explains the large crowd in Da Nang, a popular tourist destination of Vietnam.

Third, Vietnam is not the only country, to start the process to return to normalcy. Several other countries, even with a growing number of cases, are compelled to do so due to the negative impact of the pandemic on the economy. This could be one of the reasons for the second wave in most of the countries around the globe.

ALSO IN THE NEWS

Hong Kong: Elections postponed by a year

Citing the risks to the health of the citizens and the third-wave of the pandemic as a reason, Carrie Lam invoked emergency powers to postpone Hong Kong Legislative Council polls by a year. This announcement was made one day after the election officials in Hong Kong banned 12 pro-democracy activists from contesting in the elections. Though there was a denial of any pollical motive in the delaying of elections, many believe that the postponement has to do with the recent security law and the arrests.

Afghanistan: More than 1200 civilians killed in Afghanistan during Jan-June 2020

A UN report published on 27 July, states that there were 1,282 civilian deaths in the first half of 2020, and 2,176 wounded. The report says Taliban and Islamic State are behind 58 per cent of these attacks and the pro-government forces were responsible for 23 per cent of them. Though the numbers this year show a thirteen per cent decrease in the deaths compared to 2019, these numbers are despite heightened efforts to achieve peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan: Government presents an ordinance on the Kulbhushan Jadhav Case announced the formation of two-member bench to hear the case and review the petition filed by the Pakistan government. The bench comprising Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah and his fellow judge Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb would take up the government plea on 3 August.

Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini speaks at the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, Italy, on Aug. 28, 2019

The United States: American’s views on China sores, according to a survey

According to a new Pew Research Centre survey, unfavourable views of China reach a new high, with the majority supporting a tougher stand on human rights. The survey conducted between 16 June and 14 July among 1,003 adults in the United States, finds that while Republicans and Democrats both have negative views of China and are critical of Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus, and the criticism is more prevalent among Republicans. More Americans also think the US should hold China responsible for the role it played in the outbreak of the coronavirus than think this should be overlooked in order to maintain strong bilateral economic ties.

Europe: The EU restricts exporting surveillance technology to Hong Kong

The member states agreed to a package of measures as a response to the National Security Law in Hong Kong that the bloc believes would extensively erode people’s rights and freedoms. The European Union announced export restrictions to Hong Kong of any equipment that can be used for “internal repression, interception of internal communications or cyber surveillance,” as measures, Germany announced that it would now treat Hong Kong like it treats mainland China.

Chrishari de Alwis Gunasekare, postgraduate scholar UMISARC, Pondicherry University; Sourina Bej Project Associate, NIAS; Aparupa Bhattacherjee and Harini Madhusudan, PhD scholars, School of Conflict and Security Studies, NIAS.

*The report has been modified due to editorial considerations by INDIA NEWS