January 2023 Roundup: Turkey-Sweden diplomatic crisis, Ardern resigns, Brazil riots
A roundup of the events for the start of the New Year
After writing this article, there was a massive earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria which has killed many people as well as many others who are currently trapped in the rubble. If you want to help, I will put a link to a database of 28 reputable charities that are helping with relief efforts in this section.
Good Morning, Afternoon, Evening, wherever you are,
After weeks of wrangling with the Swedish Migration Agency, the Swedish Embassy, plus bad weather that cancelled my flight. I am finally in Sweden. I am doing an exchange program here from January to June, so I’ll be here for six months. One of the reasons I wanted to do an exchange here was because I’ve never been here before plus I also took some Swedish classes at my home university, so I thought, I wanted to test myself in a country where the language is spoken by almost all of it’s people.
Although, I should note majority of Swedes especially younger Swedes do speak and understand English. I’ll maybe write more about my experience as the weeks come, however I just hope the work isn’t too much to deal with.
Anyways here is a round up of this months news
#5: Jacinda Ardern resigns as Prime Minister of New Zealand.
After five years as Prime Minister of New Zealand, On January 19th, Jacinda Ardern surprised her country as well as the world that she would resign from her position as Prime Minister of New Zealand and would leave as MP of the New Zealand parliament after the 2023 election. In an emotional press conference, Ardern cited that one of her reasons for resigning due to burnout saying that she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. “I am human, politicians are human. We give all that we can for as long as we can. And then it’s time. And for me, it’s time.”
Ardern also said that another reason for leaving the job was to spend more time with her family. As she said that she wanted to be there for her daughters first day of school as well as getting married to her partner. Ardern’s resignation comes at a difficult time for her government as recent polls showed New Zealand’s two major conservative parties, The National Party and ACT overtaking the centre-left Labour party, the party Ardern has led for five years, as in recent months Ardern’s government has been facing criticism from the public over her handling on issues such as housing and inflation.
Tributes were made by opposition leaders including a mixed one from the ACT leader, David Seymour, who a few months ago was called an “arrogant p***k” by Ardern, which she later apologized for and both leaders raised money for a foundation dedicated to Prostate Cancer. International tributes also came in from leaders of the world with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada and Prime Minister Albanese of Australia leading the way.
Ardern’s political journey has been a long but was also very quick rise to power as she was elected MP to the New Zealand parliament in 2008. Then in 2017 she became the deputy leader of the Labour Party, a few months later in August 2017, and seven weeks before an election, she became the youngest leader of the Labour Party. With the help of two parties, Ardern pipped her Conservative opponents to become Prime Minister of New Zealand on October 26th, 2017, becoming the youngest leader of a head of government in the world at the age of 37.
Her time as Prime Minister, have been defined by her management of crises, as she had to deal with the Christchurch shootings which saw a far right gun man kill 51 people in a mosque and the COVID-19 pandemic which in both events saw Ardern received praise for handling these situations with compassion as well as swiftness. In 2018, Ardern was also the second female leader since Benazir Butto of Pakistan to give birth while in office.
While there has been a lot of praise for Ardern and her leadership, she has also received criticism for falling short on promises such as dealing with child poverty which the country has been ranked for having one of the worst rates. Criticism also came regarding her government’s mixed record on Maori issues, while her government has made progress regarding the health system for Maori people as well as increasing representation of Maori in her government, as well as introducing the Matariki public holiday, and the teaching of New Zealand’s history in schools, there has been criticism over the pace of the reforms, the amount of overreach into the affairs of the Maori, and the ongoing inequities in the community.
Ardern’s premiership has been rocky in the aspect of how she has been treated in the media. With one video showing the sexist treatement she faced while in office, but also the death treats and name calling from the anti-vaxxer movement. With some commentators describing Ardern as a “tyrant” for her COVID policies and some who come from the conspiratorial of the internet describing her as a “WEF (World Economic Forum) puppet”. Although Ardern has denied that any of this had any role in her resignation.
The New Zealand Labour Party chose Ardern’s successor on January 22nd, as Chris Hipkins, who was Health Minister under Ardern, was unanimously chosen to lead the party and a few days later was sworn in as Prime Minister. Hipkins, nicknamed as Chippy, by those close to him due to his upbeat, humorous, and self deprecating personality. Hipkins says that his first priority will be to deal with inflation. However the main question will be can he introduce himself to the New Zealand public which could help Labour get re-elected in the upcoming election?
#4: Sweden’s bid for NATO in Jeporady over far right activists burning of the Quran
A far right politicians actions has put Sweden and Finland’s bid for NATO membership in Jeopardy. On January 21st, Rasmus Paludan, a far right activist and leader of the Danish party, Hard Line, burned the Quran, the holy book for the religion of Islam, outside of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. The protest was condemned by Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Tobias Billstrom, who tweeted, “Islamophobic provocations are appalling, Sweden has a far-reaching freedom of expression, but it does not imply that the Swedish Government, or myself, support the opinions expressed."
However that was not enough for Turkey, as it’s Defence minister cancelled a meeting with his Swedish counterpart which was focused on trying to remove Turkey’s objections to Sweden’s bid. With the Turkish Defence Minister saying the meeting “lost significance and meaning". Turkish officials also criticized Swedish authroities for permitting the protest. A few days prior to Paludan’s actions, Kurdish protestors hung an effigy of the Turkish president, Erdogan upside down, evoking the Turkish leader with the hanging of the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.
Erdogan in a press conference on Monday, said that Sweden should not expect Turkey to support its bid for NATO after these actions. Turkish citizens outside of the Swedish consulate in Istanbul as well as many citizens in Islamic countries have protested against Paludan’s actions.
Paludan’s actions has had huge ramifications politically for Sweden and Finland’s bid to join NATO. As Turkey and Hungary have been two countries in the military alliance that are so far preventing the bid from moving forward. Back in June of last year at the NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed an agreement that would pave the way for NATO membership with Turkey demanding that Sweden and Finland deal with Kurdish groups who they view as terrorists such as the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), and the ending of arms embargo between Turkey and these countries.
Finland which has made clear that it’s bid for NATO is a joint one with Sweden, has been in the crosshairs of the current connundrum. In an interview with Finnish national brodcaster, YLE, It’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Peeka Haavisto, saying, “We have to assess the situation, whether something has happened that in the longer term would prevent Sweden from going ahead,” hinting that Finland could go it alone if Sweden’s bid was stalled.
He later walked back those comments when asked by Reuters, where he said that both countries will join NATO together and there was no need to rush in the negotiations. He said that there was a need for a “time out” from talks between Sweden, Finland and Turkey. Adding that the demonstrations have “put brake on the progress.”
#3: Kevin McCarthy becomes speaker of the US house of Representatives after a record 15 rounds of voting
Washington started the new year with more political chaos as Kevin McCarthy became Speaker of the House after 15 rounds of voting. Something that hasn’t happened in congress since 1923. McCarthy faced fierce opposition to his leadership from some members of the Republican party who come from a faction called the House Freedom Caucus. The House Freedom caucus is made up of 53 Republican house members who are seen as more right-wing than the Leadership of the Republican house.
The Freedom Caucus has been known for it’s battles with the leadership of the house. As it was this same caucus that forced John Boehner to resign from Congress in 2015. Members of the freedom caucus have also gone on take on high level roles such as Mark Meadows who was the chief of staff to former President Donald Trump.
The reasons for why some members voted against McCarthy becoming speaker of the house varied from member to member. For some like Florida Representative Matt Gaetz and Colorado representative Lauren Boebert, their view was that Kevin McCarthy is part of the political establishment that is wanting to continue the status quo of what they see as Washington not functioning.
Other members were either looking for concessions on McCarthy on demands such as having a seat on certain committees, more focus on issues they care about such as border security, not raising the debt ceiling unless there is some major cuts to social security and Medicare, and a new subcommittee that would investigate “the Weaponization of the FBI” which would give congress people on that committee to have sweeping investigatory powers to review “ongoing criminal investigations.”
McCarthy gave into a lot of those demands which did help him get a few members to vote for him, however there was still a small group of Republicans who were still holding their guns wanting someone else to be the speaker of the house rather than Kevin McCarthy. In fact, five members who refused to vote for McCarthy were given the nickname the “Never Kevin” crew.
However, those members later folded in the later votes as rather than voting for McCarthy, they voted present which led to McCarthy winning the house speakership on the 15th vote.
The whole McCarthy vote is political theatre or something out of the show Veep, which I remember someone saying is more of an accurate depiction of what’s going on in Washington than say other shows like House of Cards or West Wing. However, the McCarthy vote, is probably another indicator that boring normal politics in Washington (whatever that is) is not returning back anytime soon.
The road to the 2024 presidential election is not that far from now, and for the Republican’s it will be a pretty divisive battle. Former President Donald Trump has already announced that he is running for 2024 to get the job he has missed, while the events of January 6th, would of ended any chance of a comeback for Trump, The former president still has a committed base of supporters willing to help him in his cause.
However, there are some Republicans who likes Trump’s politics but think the man himself is to toxic and have blamed him for the poor performance in the midterm. For them there preferred candidate is Florida governor Ron Desantis. Desantis is coming off of a landslide victory in the midterms running on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, his focus on battling the “woke left” whether it be corporations like Disney or the NHL, or teachers in the classroom discussing CRT or gender expression and orientation.
Desantis, who a few years ago in the 2018 midterms was liked by Trump and even tried to emulate his style of politics through ads and speeches, has now been attacked by him, with Trump calling him “Ron Desanctimonius”. If Desantis does run in the Republican primaries, expect less discussion on any policies given that both men agree on a lot regarding Republican policies regarding culture war issues and immigration, it will be mostly be a battle of personalities and who can prove themselves as the best person to take on the current President Joe Biden.
#2: War in Ukraine: US and Germany approve of Leopard and Abrams Tanks to be sent to Ukraine
Another big news that came out of Washington as well as Berlin was the approval of the deliveries of American and German made tanks to Ukraine. These tanks being the Abrams M1A1 and the Leopard 2 tanks. Along with the shipment of the British tanks, Challenger 2, the announcement of the shipment of these tanks have been hailed by the Ukrainian government and defence experts as a “gamechanger” for the Ukrainian side. According to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, The amount for the “first wave” of deliveries to Ukraine is in the range of 120 to 140 tanks.
Since the start of the war, both the Ukrainian and Russian armies have been using Soviet era tanks known as T-72s for their battle, which have been helpful for both sides in terms of fighting in terrain where it has been on vast plains and small hills, however the Soviet made tanks that the Ukrainians are using have been less survivable compared to the Soviet era tanks which over 500 of them have been destroyed during the war.
It also comes at a time when both Russian army has launched an offensive in the southern region of Zaporzizhia as the Ukrainians also prepare for an offensive in the region as well. The Ukrainians want more support in terms of military aid specifically Western tanks which according to defence experts see as being more faster, protective, and accurate, than the current tanks they are using.
The approval of sending the tanks have been seen as a sign of reassurance for the Ukrainians that Western countries will continue to support their effort as for the past few weeks, Germany, the country where the Leopard tanks are made, have been reluctant as well as permitting other countries to send these tanks as the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz and his advisors were worried about further angering Russia and escalating the war.
The delay from Germany angered many European allies like neighbours Poland, who’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Moraweicki, called the delay “unacceptable”. One of President Zelensky’s advisors said that the West’s indecision regarding tanks was “killing more Ukrainians.”
While the news of more tanks is good news for the Ukrainians, there are however some challenges even after they get the tanks, some defence experts have noted that even with the heavy losses of tanks, still have a large inventory of tanks plus many of the new recruits that were brang in the Russian army are in a much better position to fight then they were when Russia was first drafting soldiers last September.
This has led to the Ukrainians to ask for more weapons especially one’s they don’t have such as F16 Jets, Longer range missile systems, which they believe will help them in their upcoming offensive, Ukraine has suggested that they have received positive signals from Poland that they will supply the F16 jets, however they Polish officials have said that they will act with the consultations of NATO allies however, US president Joe Biden, along with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz have so far said they would not commit to sending those weapons.
#1: Brazil Congress Riots
Riots broke out in Brazil, on January 8th, where protestors supporting the former Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro stormed into the Brazilian Congress as well as the building housing Brazil’s Supreme Court, and the Presidential Palace. While inside the buildings, protestors smashed windows, ransacked the buildings and teared up documents. The scenes reminiscent to what happened when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol Building in Washington on January 6th, 2021.
Brazilian police seemed to have not been prepared for the event as they were overwhelmed by the Protestors. The storming of government buildings by Brazilian protestors was a culmination of a series of protests against the result of last years Brazilian election which saw Bolsonaro’s opponent Lula da Silva, one of Brazil’s former presidents, beat Bolsonaro by a close margin of 50.9 to 49.1.
For many Bolsonaro supporters, they have viewed the election of Da Silva as illegitimate and that large amounts of electoral fraud had taken place where the election was “stolen” from Bolsonaro. Prior to leaving office Bolsonaro had said he would follow the countries rules but he did not concede or congratulate Da Silva.
On December 30th, two days before Da Silva was sworn in as President of Brazil, Bolsonaro left the country on the Brazilian Air Force One, a plane used by the President of Brazil, to Florida, where he is currently residing in. The day after the protests Bolsonaro condemned the protest but did not take an responsibility. Bolsonaro was also hospitalized on the same day as he was dealing with health problems that he had dealt with after a stabbing in 2018, according to his wife.
President Lula however blamed Bolsonaro for the riots and also promised for an investigation into how the riots happened.
Nice summary of the big news events of January!