May 2023 Roundup: King Charles Coronation, Ukraine Update, and US debt Ceiling
Here is a round up of the five top stories of May 2023
Good Morning, Afternoon, and Evening,
I know I have been late with this article and I would like to apologize for that, knowing that you guys have received the May 2023 honorable mentions a few weeks ago and were expecting the official roundup. The reason for my tardiness has been because of the last few weeks of finishing up my studies with exams as well as preparing to wind down my exchange in Sweden.
The feeling is bittersweet, while I am happy to return home as I haven’t seen it in six months, there is also a feeling of sadness because, I’ve made so many friends here and many of them live in Europe, meanwhile I live an ocean away from them. One thing that does bring me comfort is thanks to social media and how widespread it is I can still contact with friends from my exchange. The exchange has also put into consideration of some life choices such as what I want to do in my future and where I want to do it, and so far Sweden has proven to be the top candidate for that especially after being in Stockholm a few months ago, it definitley won me over with its metro system as well as still having the big city vibe that I’m more in favour of.
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see where the future takes me.
Anyways here is a roundup of the headlines for May.
#5: King Charles III’s Coronation
On May 6th, King Charles III and his wife Camilla were officially coronated as the King and Queen consort of the United Kingdom. The coronation ceremony taking place King Charles a year after the death of his predecessor and mother, Queen Elizabeth II. The ceremony saw a lot of pomp and circumstance with those who dub themselves as royal watchers wait outside Buckingham Palace to witness an historic event that hasn’t been seen since 1952, when Queen Elizabeth was coronated. Prior to the coronation, King Charles along with other members of the royal family greeted them.
The attendees of the event were also of note at the ceremony. As expected there was almost all of the members of the Royal family who were in attendance including, Prince Harry, who in the past few months has had a strained relationship with the family over explosive claims he made about members of the family in his autobiography. All living British Prime Ministers, and leaders of the opposition parties attended the event along with dignitaries from 203 countries were in attendance of the ceremony. These dignitaries ranged from members of royalty from other countries, to presidents, prime ministers and in the case of some commonwealth countries The US delegation to the ceremony received attention from the UK press with some of them criticizing the US president Joe Biden for not attending the coronation as the first lady, Jill Biden, headed the US delegation. Some saw his action as disrespectful to the UK and showing that Biden did not value the US-UK relationship, however back in April, White House Press Secretary, Karine Jean Pierre, said that Biden not attending the coronation ceremony, “is not a snub.” Others also noted that Biden was following protocol as since it’s independence, no sitting US President attended a coronation as seen in the 1952 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II where the then US Secretary of State, George Marshall, attended in steed of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Questions over Biden’s attendance were also made after past statements, that Biden has made where he has leaned more into his Irish ancestry and has been critical of Britain’s colonization of Ireland. However, tensions between the King Charles and Joe Biden was non-existent as a phone call between the two warm with Charles inviting Biden to the UK on a later date. Seven countries that were not invited to the coronation which included Russia, Belarus, Iran, Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan, and Venezuela. Invites were however sent to senior diplomats of Nicaragua and North Korea.
While there were many in the UK and across the world who celebrated the coronation, others had used the event to do other things on what was a day off for many in the UK. Protesters who advocated for the abolishment of the monarchy came out as well as they reject the idea of the monarchy and views it as being a waste of money highlighted by the 125 million dollars that was spent for the coronation, as well as the brutal past that it was involved with regards to colonization. 52 Protestors were arrested by London Metropolitan Police. Republic, one of the groups at the protests, told CNN that the police did not offer any reasons for why they were being arrested. The London Metropolitan Police have said that they “regret” the arrest of six of the protestors.
Opposition towards the monarch has grown in the past few years as recent polls have shown that the popularity of the monarchy has been declining both in the UK. Countries part of the commonwealth have or are in the process of becoming a republic. In 2021, Barbados became the first of the commonwealth countries to remove the monarch as the head of state in place of a President. Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, St Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, are also in the process of reviewing their role as constitutional monarchies. In an interview with Channel 4, the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, said that he wants to see a “severing of the link between the Monarch” as he believed that someone who was born and grew up in the UK could be the king of St Vincent and the Grenadines. He has also said that he would welcome reparations and an apology from both King Charles and the British Government over the legacy of slavery that had happened during the rule of the British Empire.
It is not just countries in the Caribbean that have been questioning the role of the monarchy but also countries that have had strong ties with the monarchy have also questioned the role of monarchy in their countries. Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has promised for a referendum on whether the country should become a republic after it’s referendum on an indigenous voice in Parliament. He has also said that while he plans to give allegiance to the king, he hopes to see a President as the countries head of state It’s neighbours, New Zealand, saw both it’s current Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins and Former Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, have both expressed that their country will someday become a republic.
Canada’s Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has said that “now is not the time for diving into constitutional negotiations”, the governor general, the king’s representative in the country, Mary Simon, has said that there many need to be “conversations” about a future without the monarchy due to the unpopularity of King Charles, which led Canadian monarchists sending a letter to the Governor General which said it was “unbelievable” that Simon would question the future and popularity of the monarchy given her position.
#4: Arrest of the Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan
On May 9th, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan was arrested by Pakistani authorities over charges surrounding corruption. Since March, Khan has been able to avoid arrest from authorities as supporters of him have battled with police to prevent his arrest. However, authorities were able to arrest him in what was a dramatic event with riot police escorting Khan when he left a courthouse in Islamabad.
Khan was however released four days later after the country’s supreme court ruled that his detention was illegal. The arrest of Khan has been seen as an ongoing saga for the instability that the country faces as protests from Khan’s supporters across the country grow more violent and an unknown future for a country that has 231 million people and is nuclear armed.
Khan has been accused by the current government of not cooperating with the authorities over an ongoing corruption investigation. The case dealing with money an investigation by the British National Crime Agency that is looking into money that was laundered by a Pakistani businessman, Malik Riaz Hussain. According to the BBC, Mr. Hussain gave land to a trust that was set up by Khan’s wife, Bushra Bibi. Both Khan and Hussain have denied the charges with Mr.Khan claiming that the land was donated for “charitable purposes”.
Mr. Hussain has appeared before investigators regarding the case and has given a statement, however it has not been made public or reported through the media. This is not the only case that Khan is facing as there are nearly 150 charges that are being bought up against Mr. Khan which he has denied guilt in all cases. Mr. Khan and his supporters have accused the country’s military leadership, who play a big role in Pakistani politics, and his political opponents for these charges believing they are “politically motivated”.
In an interview with the Intercept’s Ryan Grim, Mr. Khan claims that his opponents are bringing up these charges to weaken his party heading into the next election which is scheduled to happen around October. Recent polls have shown that Khan’s party hold a commanding lead against the two opposition parties. Mr. Khan also told Mr. Grim that his country is now at a crossroads with fears of the country heading back to a military dictatorship or getting back to the rule of law and free and fair elections. He also has called for a “new equilibrium” in terms of the relationship between the military and the government. Mr. Khan also claimed that former the former Pakistani ambassador to the US , Husain Haqqani, was involved in misleading the US in supporting the overthrowing of his leadership last year. Haqqani has denied the claim.
Prior to entering politics, Imran Khan was mostly known for his sporting ability, being Pakistan’s most decorated cricket player. Mr. Khan would later focus on philanthropy as he helped with building of hospitals and universities. Khan would enter politics in 1996 with the creation of a new political party that would challenge the country’s political establishment and military leadership. In 2018, he became Prime Minister of Pakistan riding on a platform of getting rid of corruption. Six months into power however, corruption still remain rampant under his rule. In an interview with VICE news, Khan has put blame on the military for the failure.
Mr. Khan has also faced criticism as well for press freedom under his premiership as well as friendlier relations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, as well as with the leaders of China and, Russia, who he met on the day Russia invaded Ukraine. A motion of confidence that was voted back in April of last year saw the end of Khan’s leadership with a new prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, taking his place. Which has lead to the instability that the country is in today.
#3: Turkey’s election: Erdogan wins a Second Term
Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was narrowly re-elected on May 28th after beating his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the second round of the presidential election. According to the Supreme Election Board, the country’s election commission the results saw Erdogan winning 52.14 percent of the vote in the second round while Kılıçdaroğlu got 47.86 percent of the vote.
The election was described by Politico as “2023’s most important election” due to it falling on the 100th year of Turkey’s independence under its first president, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, whose legacy is remembered for the creation of a secular republic, the idea that religion is separate from the state. Since coming into power in 2003 (when he first was Prime Minister), Erdogan has been moving the country away from the Secular republic towards “a more religious conservative model” based on Islam.
Some of these examples towards the moving away from secularism include the decree of allowing the Sofia Hagia to be used as a mosque again after a Turkish court revoked its 80 year status as a museum, there was also moves such as removing the ban on the use of the hijab in public life which has received support from opposition parties who were once supportive of the ban against the hijab. These moves have been praised by many muslims in his country who have rallied around Erdogan as a defender of their religion. This has led to a rise of a nationalism, which novelist and essayist Kaya Genç described to the New Yorker’s Isaac Chotiner as Sunni Nationalism which differs from other sects of nationalism in the country.
Critics have accused Erdogan of using religion as a political tool to help him get elected. They have also accused of the President of moving the country closer to authoritarianism as since the attempted coup of Erdogan in 2016, he has targeted political opponents who have been critical of him such as the Mayor of Istanbul, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was convicted in December last year for “insulting state institutions”. The decision was seen as politically motivate, as İmamoğlu was seen as a challenger to Erdogan.
He has also targeted the country’s Kurdish community who once supported him, since 2015, when peace talks with the Kurds broke down, Erdogan’s government has arrested and jailed activists as well as mayors and local officials who are a part of the left wing and pro Kurdish Party HDP, for either being members or having ties to a group called the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought against the Turkish state since 1984 and has been designated as a terrorist group by Turkey, the EU, and the United States.
Heading into the campaign, Erdogan was in a tough spot. He had faced criticism over the handling of the countries earthquake response in February. Many people in the affected areas accused Erdogan and his government of abandoning them and not giving them the help they need. His economic record was also of criticism with the countries currency, the Lira losing its value due to a high trade deficit as well as many unorthodox solutions that his government has attempted to use to stabilize the currency, this has led to worries of the country facing an economic default.
Erdogan’s main opponent was, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, who came from the main opposition party in Turkey, the CHP, Kılıçdaroğlu has been described as a “soft spoken man” by Genç and comes from a wing of the opposition focused on Social Democratic and socially progressive values, Kılıçdaroğlu has spoken in favor of the Kurdish community as well as for the LGBTQ community. He has also been seen as also a more friendlier leader to the West and could help with proceeding with Turkey’s bid to join the EU as well as Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
Critics of Kılıçdaroğlu, both inside and outside of his party, have been critical of him for focusing too much on being progressive and not leaning into more of the nationalist sentiment of Turkish nationalism which is based around it’s former president Ataturk, as well as being critical of his nature of being soft spoken, as they believe that someone who is more assertive would be able to beat Erdogan. During the final weeks of the campaign, Kılıçdaroğlu courted the vote of nationalists by leaning into anti immigrant sentiment against the large amount of refugees that are in Turkey. In a rally speech he attacked Erdogan saying, “You brought more than 10 million refugees in… I hereby declare that I will send all refugees back as soon as I come to power .” Kılıçdaroğlu has also formed an alliance with an anti refugee party, which has made allies on the left uncomfortable.
Even with all these efforts made by Kılıçdaroğlu, Erdogan was able to pull off a razor thin win thanks to his hardened supporters and the Muslims who have been supportive of his policies. With his win there will be questions over how Erdogan will be dealing with International issues. Erdogan will still be seen as an important player in the politics of his region, the Middle East, but is also looking enhance his relationship both economically and militarily with countries in Central Asia and Africa.
There will also be interest in the halls of power in Washington, Paris, Brussels, Stockholm, Kyiv and Moscow, as there will be questions over Turkey’s role in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Since the start of war, Erdogan has taken a pragmatic approach to the war as Turkey has provided support militarily to Ukraine, but was also a mediator in trying to end the conflict during the first few weeks, while mediation efforts in ending the war has been so far unsuccessful, Turkey did successfully negotiate last year a grain deal to help with reliving the grain crisis the world was facing. However, stalling on accepting Sweden and Finland’s bids to join NATO has frustrated Turkey’s Western allies who want to see swift admittance of both countries into the alliance.
After the election, Erdogan said that Sweden should not expect his country will accept it’s bid before July’s NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Erdogan has been pushing for Sweden to deal with it’s leniency with those who are members of terrorists organizations specifically the PKK. However according to Politico, Erdogan could soften letting Sweden into Europe, given that NATO allies have helped with earthquake aid. In terms of joining the EU, talks are still stalled given the recent democratic backsliding that has taken place in Turkey.
#2: US Debt Crisis: Deal struck between the two parties
On June 2nd, the US Congress approved a deal with regards to the debt ceiling which would delay the fight over it to 2025, meaning the US government will be allowed to pay it’s bills before that year. It also means the next fight for the debt ceiling will happen after the Presidential election the year before as reported by the BBC.
The debt ceiling is the limit for how much money the US government can borrow to pay for for the military, social security, and many services that fall under the US government. If the debt does default, it is unknown what would happen given that the US has never been in this territory, however analysts suspect that the situation could lead to a crisis where people who work for the government won’t get paid, people who are rely on social security won’t receive payments, thousands of jobs would be lost, as well as the fall of financial markets. More importantly, investors would lose confidence in the US dollar as well as the ability for the government to pay interest on its debt in the form of treasury bonds which are seen as one of the safest places for people to put their money in.
The debt ceiling has been raised many times since 1960, but in recent years it has become a political topic, the last time when there was worry over the debt ceiling was back in 2013 under the Obama administration who were clashing with Republicans who refused to raise the debt ceiling unless there were cuts to spending. They were able to get a deal 72 hours before the deadline of the debt default.
The reason for the debt default this time is the same as last time, however, it is not coming from Republican leadership but members who are part of the right wing Freedom Caucus who are calling for cuts. Back in January, Republican speaker of the house, Kevin McCarthy, made concessions with regards to the debt ceiling to win over the support of Freedom Caucus members in order to become speaker of the house. During the negotiations, Republican leaders of both houses, relayed their arguments of future cuts on spending, however Democrats were against this as they prefer a deal with no strings attached.
Disagreements on both sides led to President Joe Biden, cancelling trips in the Pacific as he rushed back to Washington to resolve the crisis. In the end a deal was made between the two sides which would see some caps on spending but does not cut any defence spending, end the freeze on student loan repayments that were put in place by the Biden administration and puts new work requirements on older Americans who receive food stamps as seen in the New York Times. While there was a consensus between most Democrats and Republicans that agreed that the deal needed to go through to prevent an economic/political crisis, there was still disagreement from members in both parties.
Members of the Progressive wing of the Democratic party voted against the deal, with one of it’s most prominent members Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC) saying “My red line has already been surpassed, I mean, where do we start? [No] clean debt ceiling. Work requirements. Cuts to programs. I would never — I would never — vote for that.” Displeasure was also expressed by members of the Freedom Caucus, with one of its members Chip Roy urging the Speaker of the house to “hold the line” and that none of their requests should be “abandoned solely for the quest of a ‘deal.”
#1: Ukraine Update
There have been significant developments in what’s been going on in Ukraine as well as in Russia in the battlefield. The first development came with two drones that striked the Kremlin building in Moscow. In a video it showed the drone exploding when it hit the building. US officials speaking with the New York Times believe that the attack was likely carried out by the Ukrainians but have said that it is unknown whether Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials had any knowledge of the attack, however some officials think that Zelenskyy had no knowledge of the attacks. The officials speaking under anonymity have said the drone attacks were part of a covert operation from Ukrainian security services. The US officials have noted that their level of confidence is low that the Ukrainian government has authorized these attacks due to not having any specific evidence leading to the conclusion.
They have said that their preliminary assessment cam after listening through intercepted communications where Russian officials were blaming Ukraine as well as other communication lines where Ukrainian officials believed their country was responsible for the attack and have described their assessment in broad terms. This came after similar conclusions were made by US officials that the Ukrainians were involved in the attack of a prominent nationalist and daughter of Alexander Dugin, Daria Dugina, the bomb that killed a Russian Pro War blogger, the explosion of the Nordstream 2 pipeline, and more recently the incursions into the Russian border towns and cities of the Belgorod region.
As mentioned before their have been incursions into the Russian border region of Belgorod, by an armed group which has clashed with the Russian military where there have been reports of injuries. The Ukrainian government denies that any of it’s forces are involved inthe attacks and have said that it was Russian paramilitary groups that were responsible for them. They have pointed to two legions in the army that are backed by Ukraine, Liberty of Russia and the Russian Volunteer corps (RVC) for being the ones responsible for the attacks. According to BBC verify, they have found video footage of armoured vehicles near a checkpoint south of Belgorod. On twitter, a Liberty of Russia, claimed that they had “completely liberated” the village of Kozina.
The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, has said that efforts were underway to eliminate the group and that the actions were to distract Russia’s war efforts in the town of Bakhmut in the eastern region of Ukraine, where the mercenary group, Wagner, has claimed to have taken it. According to analysts these actions seem to be part of an effort to distract the Russians and spread their forces thin as Ukraine starts it’s long waited counteroffensive and is also to try and to symbolically send a message to the Russians that the war is coming to them after the recent bombardement of airstrikes on Ukrainian cities in the past few weeks.
Away from the battlefield, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, made trips to the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan, where he reiterated past calls for continuing support for it’s efforts in the war. However, he did not just meet with G7 members at the summit, but also met with the leaders of India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and, Brazil’s president, Lula, both of whom have been staying neutral in their positions on the war. American and British officials spoke to the New York Times saying that Zelensky’s presence at the summit could break resistance from some officials on the American side who have been hesitant to send more powerful weapons and also to put pressure on countries in the Global South with regards to their positions on the war.
France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, told reporters that Zelenskyy’s attendance at the G7 summit provided “a unique opportunity” for him to have exchanges with countries from the south and to express his situation, message, and and view and that he believes these meetings were a game changer. Along with the G7 summit, Zelenskyt also made an appearance at this year’s Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, meeting with the leaders of Arab world who have also stayed neutral when it came to the war.
In his address to the summit, Zelenskyy accused some of the organizations members of “turning a blind eye” when it came to the war. Zelenskyy also promised more cooperation with the Arab world and leaned onto the Ukrainian Muslim community as well as using words such as “occupation” and “colonisers” to help convince these leaders. Even after the speech there is still skepticism from some as Caroline Rose, a senior analyst and head of the power vacuums programme at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told Al Jazeera, that due to some nations such as Saudi Arabia who have been developing closer relations with Russia and China, there is an uncertainty whether Zelenskyy’s approach has worked in convincing them to be on their side. Rose also noted that the invitation of Zelenskyy also mitigated controversy over the invitation of Syrian leader, Bashar Al-Assad, which has been seen as a move to normalise relations with the Syrian leader who has been accused of human rights abuses and for the lack of a political solution when it comes to the Syrian civil war.
Back in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, commemorated May 9th as Victory Day, a holiday to commemorate the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in 1945. The parade as has been seen in the past by Vladimir Putin is a way to project his image of Russia as a superpower. Although due to the war celebrations were scaled back. In a ten minute speech, Putin accused the West of being consumed by Russophobia and for forgetting the Soviet Union’s role in World War II. The only dignitaries that were at attendance were mostly countries that were apart of the Soviet Union, such as Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, the leaders of the Central Asian countries, and the Prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.
Sources for #5:
https://www.tatler.com/gallery/world-leaders-at-king-charles-coronation
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/09/biden-ireland-visit-good-friday-agreement
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65527160
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/10/one-of-our-own-australia-plans-referendum-on-monarchy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/monarchists-blast-gg-king-charles-1.6840207
Sources for #4:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65541518
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/14/imran-khan-arrest-pakistan-military
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-08/imran-khan-granted-bail-in-murder-case/102458910
Sources for #3:
https://www.politico.eu/article/turkey-2023-election-erdogan-kilicdaroglu/
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/12/turkeys-opposition-opens-up-to-the-hijab
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/10/world/europe/hagia-sophia-erdogan.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65671723
https://freedomhouse.org/country/turkey/freedom-world/2023
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/what-turkeys-elections-mean-ukraine
Sources for #2:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65744615
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/us/politics/speaker-election-debt-limit-republicans.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/29/us/politics/debt-ceiling-agreement.html
Sources for #1:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/us/politics/ukraine-kremlin-drone-attack.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65674773
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/20/us/politics/zelensky-g7-japan.html