The EconomistJuly 27th 2019 51The world this week Politics
Boris Johnsontook over as
Britain’s prime minister from
Theresa May after winning the
Conservative Party’s leadership
contest. Mr Johnson was the
favourite from the outset and
won comfortably, taking 66%
of the vote from the 160,
party members on an 87%
turnout. Some wonder how
long he will last. Brexit has
already claimed two British
prime ministers. When Parlia-
ment scrutinises his Brexit
proposals Mr Johnson is as
likely to struggle as much as
Mrs May did.Mr Johnson started naming his
new ministers, aiming to
move away from the pale, male
and stale image of previous
cabinets. Sajid Javid was ap-
pointed chancellor of the
exchequer, Dominic Raab took
charge at the Foreign Office
and Priti Patel became home
secretary. There were two other
themes in his picks: the new
cabinet is packed with pro-
Brexiteers and those who
backed Mr Johnson in the
leadership race.The response in Europeto Mr
Johnson’s victory was muted.
Ursula von der Leyen, the
president-elect of the Euro-
pean Commission, politely
noted that he “faces challeng-
ing times”. Others were more
direct. Guy Verhofstadt, who
leads the liberal bloc in the
European Parliament, called
him “irresponsible”.In one of her first big decisions
as she prepares to take over the
presidency of the European
Commission, Mrs von der
Leyen decided to move Martin
Selmayr, the eu’s most senior
civil servant, to a new job
running the eu’s operations in
Austria. The demotion comesless than 18 months after his
controversial appointment
amid claims of cronyism.Ukraine’sparliamentary
election was won by President
Volodymyr Zelensky’s new
Servant of the People party,
which won the first overall
majority in the country since
the fall of communism. Mr
Zelensky, a former comedian,
called the snap poll after win-
ning the presidency on an
anti-corruption ticket in April.Swirling intrigue
Kenya’sfinance minister,
Henry Rotich, was arrested on
corruption charges. He denies
wrongdoing. The case has
raised fears of political
instability in Kenya as Mr
Rotich is an ally of the deputy
president, William Ruto, who
plans to run for president in- Mr Ruto’s supporters
claim the police and prosecu-
tors are using corruption
charges to undermine his
chances of winning office.
The health minister of the
Democratic Republic of Con-
go, Oly Ilunga, resigned amid a
dispute over Ebola. Mr Ilunga
had resisted the introduction
of an experimental vaccine
that experts believe could have
helped contain the current
outbreak, in which about 2,
people have been infected.Iranseized a British tanker
passing through the Strait of
Hormuz, an important choke-
point for international ship-
ping. The capture of the tanker
came two weeks after Britain
seized an Iranian tanker alleg-
edly bound for Syria.The quiet man
Robert Muellergave eagerly
awaited testimony to Ameri-
ca’s Congress at a public
hearing. The man who investi-
gated links between Donald
Trump’s election campaign
and Russian officials did not
stray far from the findings of
his report, published in April,
but he rejected the president’s
claim that it completely
exonerated him.The Senate confirmed Mark
Esper as America’s new
defence secretary, following
the derailment of Patrick
Shanahan’s nomination last
month. Mr Esper received
broad bipartisan support in the
Senate, though a smattering of
Democrats raised concerns
about his former job as a lob-
byist for a weapons company.A resolution opposing an
attempt to boycottIsrael
picked up huge Democratic
support and passed the House
of Representatives by 398 to 17.
That marked a stinging defeat
for the movement to boycott
Israel, advanced by newly
elected progressives.Ricardo Rosselló became the
first governor ofPuerto Ricoto
resign, after two weeks of
ever-larger protests triggered
by the leak of sexist,
homophobic and violent text
messages that he exchanged
with government officials. One
of the offending texts mocked
victims of Hurricane Maria,
making reference to cadavers
and crows.Warning shots
South Koreaaccused Russian
aircraft of violating its airspace
during a joint military exercise
with China. The alleged in-
cursion happened near disput-
ed islands in the Sea of Japan,
which are claimed by both
Japan and South Korea. Russia
denied the incursion.Pakistan’sprime minister,
Imran Khan, visited the White
House. Donald Trump boasted
that he could wipe out Afghan-
istan, an American ally, and, to
India’s horror, offered to medi-
ate in the long-standing dis-
pute over Kashmir.Japan’sruling Liberal Demo-
crats won a majority of seats in
the upper house of parliament
at an election, but failed to
secure the supermajority
required to change the coun-
try’s pacifist constitution, a
long-held goal of Shinzo Abe,
the prime minister.Li Peng, a former prime min-
ister of China, died aged 90. Mr
Peng was known as the
“Butcher of Beijing” for his role
in the crackdown on pro-
democracy protesters in
Tiananmen Square in 1989.Tensions were high in Hong
Kongafter protesters vandal-
ised the Chinese government’s
liaison office in the territory. A
mob of men armed with sticks
and metal bars later attacked
passengers at a railway station.
China hinted that it was ready
to intervene in Hong Kong if
protesters threatened the
central government’s
authority.Playing with fire
A Venezuelanfighter jet
“aggressively shadowed” an
American navy reconnaissance
plane over the Caribbean Sea,
according to Southern Com-
mand, which runs American
military operations in Latin
America. Venezuela claimed
the navy plane had strayed into
its airspace.The power went off again in 16
of Venezuela’s 23 states. In the
capital, Caracas, the blackout
caused huge traffic jams. The
government blamed an
“electromagnetic attack”.Brazil’spresident, Jair Bolso-
naro, chose Marcelo Xavier da
Silva, a federal police officer, to
lead the government’s Indian
affairs department, Funai.
Indigenous groups criticised
the appointment. As Funai’s
ombudsman in 2017 Mr da
Silva had asked the police to
take “persecutory measures”
against activists. Separately,
Mr Bolsonaro said he would
review data on the deforesta-
tion of the Amazon before their
release, because the figures
could hurt Brazil’s image.