10 The Economist May 14th 2022
The world this week Politics
Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned
as prime minister of Sri Lanka
amid a wave of violence, as the
country endures its worst ever
economic crisis. Gotabaya
Rajapaksa, the president and
Mahinda’s younger brother,
also came under pressure to
step down. Protesters burned
down politicians’ houses and a
museum dedicated to the
Rajapaksas, whom they blame
for crippling shortages of food
and fuel and for runaway
inflation. Gotabaya called for
the opposition to join a gov
ernment of national unity and
ordered the army to shoot
rioters on sight. Ferdinand Marcos junior,
better known as “Bongbong”,
won the Philippines’presi
dential election. The son of a
former dictator, who was
overthrown by the “People
Power” revolution in 1986, Mr
Marcos asked not to be judged
by his ancestors but by his
actions. One of his first actions
was to visit his father’s grave in
Manila. Sara Duterte, the
daughter of the outgoing presi
dent, Rodrigo Duterte, won the
vicepresidency.The Taliban issued a decree
that in effect requires women
in Afghanistanto wear a veil
in public whenever they leave
their homes.The authorities in Shanghai
tightened covid restrictions. A
weekslong lockdown has
pushed daily new cases well
below their recent peak, but
China’s biggest city is still
struggling to extinguish an
outbreak. Food deliveries have
been banned in some areas
and hospital visits must be
approved. Neighbours of any
one infected are often being
forced into quarantine.NorthKoreaorderedcitiesto
lockdownafteradmittingto
itsfirstcovidinfectionssince
thepandemicbeganmorethan
twoyearsago.JohnLeewaschosentolead
HongKongbya 1,500member
committeepackedwith
CommunistPartyloyalists.He
wastheonlycandidate.MrLee
oversawthecrackdownon
prodemocracyprotestersin
2019.Hehasembraceda draco
niannationalsecuritylawthat
thecentralgovernment
imposedontheterritoryin
2020.Meanwhile,Cardinal
JosephZen,anoutspoken
advocateofdemocracy,whois
90,wasarrestedinHongKong
forallegedlycolludingwith
foreignforces.AnewHelsinkiaccord
Finland’s president and prime
minister recommended that
the country formally join
nato, a potential reversal of
years of neutrality. Before
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
only about 20% of Finns sup
ported membership; that
figure is now around 70%.
Sweden is also expected to say
it will join. One of the sup
posed goals of Russia’s in
vasion was to stop nato’s
expansion; if the two coun
tries’ parliaments approve the
change, it will have achieved
the opposite. Vladimir Putin, Russia’s presi
dent, announced no new
initiatives in the war in
Ukrainein a speech on May
9th to commemorate victory in
the second world war. He
declared neither victory, as
some had expected, nor an
escalation of the war. The
conflict is becoming more
static, with intelligence an
alysts in America and else
where now predicting a stale
mate. Ukrainian troops have
succeeded in driving Russia
back from Kharkiv. The last
defenders of the city of Mariu
pol continue to resist a Rus
sian siege. But Russia has
made small territorial gains in
the Donbas region and still
seems to be aiming to cut off
Ukrainian forces there. America’s House of Repre
sentatives approved an extra
$40bn in military and hu-
manitarian aid for Ukraine.
There was some resistance
from Republicans, which
could slow the bill’s passage in
the Senate. America imposed
more sanctionson Russia, and
the g7 made a commitment to
ban Russian oil imports “in a
timely and orderly fashion”. Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s wife,
visited a border town in
Ukraine, where she met Olena
Zelenska, the wife of Ukraine’s
president. It was Mrs
Zelenska’s first public appear
ance since the Russian in
vasion began in February. In Northern Irelandthe
nationalist Sinn Féin party
took the most seats in
assembly elections. It is the
first time since Ireland’s parti
tion in 1921 that unionists have
not been the biggest party in
the province. Disagreement
over the Northern Ireland
protocol, a postBrexit deal
which creates a customs barri
er with the rest of the United
Kingdom, is proving to be an
obstacle to restoring the
government in Belfast.Shireen Abu Aqleh, a promi
nent Palestinianjournalist for
Al Jazeera, was shot dead while
reporting on a clash between
Israeli forces and Palestinians
in the restive West Bank town
of Jenin. Colleagues at the
scene blamed the Israeliarmy,
which said she may have been
shot by Palestinian gunmen.
Israel’s foreign minister of
fered a joint IsraeliPalestinian
inquiry. A few days earlier,
three Israelis were killed by
two Palestinians wielding
axes, the latest in a wave of
terrorist attacks in Israel. The imfresumed lending to
Mozambique, having sus
pended it six years ago after it
emerged that the country had
$2bn in undisclosed debts.
Credit Suisse, which arranged
the loans, was fined last Octo
ber for failing to carry out due
diligence; its bankers pocket
ed some of the cash.Islamic State West Africa
Province, a Nigerianterrorist
group, released a video pur
porting to show the murder of
20 Christians in the north
eastern state of Borno. Colombiasent 2,000 mem
bers of the security forces to
deal with a spate of violence
by the Gulf Clan, a criminal
gang, in reprisal for the extra
dition to America of its leader,
Dairo Antonio Úsuga, known
as Otoniel. President Iván
Duque claims that Otoniel is
the world’s most dangerous
drugtrafficker. Theoutsiders
Andrés Manuel López
Obrador, the president of
Mexico, visited Cuba and
praised his communist coun
terpart there. Mr López Obra
dor threatened to skip a gath
ering in Los Angeles in June of
governments from across the
Americas unless the United
States also invites Cuba,
Nicaragua and Venezuela.A 28yearold woman in El
Salvadorwas sentenced to
years in prison for the death
of her unborn child following
an obstetric emergency. Abor
tion is illegal in the country.Republicans in America’s
Senate blocked a bill that
would override state laws and
give women a right to abor-
tion. The legislation was
never expected to pass but
marks the first attempt by
Democrats to enact such a
right following the leak of a
draft decision of the Supreme
Court that would, if adopted,
return abortion policy to the
states. Some Republicans
would like to go further still
and try to impose an outright
national ban.