10 The EconomistNovember 30th 2019
1The world this week Politics
Opposition candidates won a
stunning victory in Hong
Kong’slocal elections, a result
that activists claimed as an
endorsement of protesters’
demands for full democracy. A
record turnout saw 3m voters
go to the polls. Carrie Lam, the
territory’s beleaguered leader,
promised to “seriously reflect”
on the outcome. China warned
America of “firm counter-
measures” in response to
Donald Trump’s signing of two
bills showing support for
democracy in Hong Kong.Chinahas 276 embassies and
other diplomatic offices, morethananyothercountry,accord-
ingtotheLowyInstitute,a
think-tank.It passedAmerica,
whichhas273,thisyear.
France,JapanandRussiatook
thenextthreespotsonthelist.Thebjpchiefministerof
Maharashtra,India’ssecond-
most-populousstate,resigned
afterholdingofficeforjust
threedays,whenthesupreme
courtsaidhemustfacea vote
ofconfidence.Hehad,inef-
fect,beeninstalledinthejob
bythenationalbjp-ledgovern-
mentinDelhifollowinga
contentiouselectioninOcto-
berandpoliticalshenanigans
toforma coalition.Next in line
Trade unions and student
groups have led large protests
and two national strikes in
Colombia. Their complaints
include proposals by the gov-
ernment to raise the pension
age and the slow implementa-
tion of a peace deal with thefarcguerrillagroup.A student
waskilledbya tear-gascan-
ister,increasingtheanger.LuisLacallePou,a candidateof
thecentre-right,apparently
wonUruguay’spresidential
election.Hisnarrowvictory,if
confirmedbythecountry’s
electoralcourt,willend 15
yearsofrulebythecentre-left
BroadFrontcoalition.Mr
LacallePouhaspromisedto
fightcrimeandslashthegov-
ernment’slargedeficit.Oh dear, Jeremy Corbyn
Britain’schief rabbi, Ephraim
Mirvis, expressed concerns
about what a Labour govern-
ment led by Jeremy Corbyn
might mean for Jewish people.
He said the party’s claim that it
had investigated every allega-
tion of anti-Semitism among
its members was a “menda-
cious fiction”. In a tvinterview
Mr Corbyn repeatedly failed to
apologise for his failure to deal
with the problem.Britain’s political parties pub-
lished their manifestosfor the
forthcoming election. Labour
promised an additional £83bn
($107bn) of day-to-day spend-
ing by 2024 (around 4% of
gdp). The Liberal Democrats
would have a surplus, despite
splashing out more than £50bn
a year. The Tories were the
stingiest, promising just an
additional £3bn. All parties
would take government spend-
ing to over 40% of gdp, re-
versing a decade-long trend of
shrinking the state.Maltawas rocked by a spate of
high-level resignations, two
years after the murder of a
journalist who had been
investigating corruption on
the island. The tourism and
economy ministers stood
down. The prime minister’s
chief of staff was arrested.The European Parliament
voted to confirm the new
European Commission,
which will now take office