Introducing the 47th edition of The PEP Weekly Digest, where we present to you the most recent updates and news on the global political stage.

Recent and upcoming elections influence the worldwide political landscape in eight nations, slated between April 19, 2024 and May 19, 2024. These elections hold significant importance, as they will determine the direction and governance of each respective country’s future.

One noteworthy event has occurred in Canada, Nova Scotia’s Premier has appointed a new Justice Minister after the previous one resigned following his controversial comments about domestic violence. Tim Houston announced on Monday that Barbara Adams will take over as Minister of Justice and Attorney General. This comes after former Justice Minister Brad Johns resigned last week after saying he disputed the Mass Casualty Commission’s finding that domestic violence is an epidemic. Johns said he volunteered to step down after several organizations that assist women told him about the damage his words had caused. Adams will take over his former post while also retaining her portfolio as Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care.

Shifting our focus to Colombia, on the night of Monday, April 22, the death of General Ricardo Díaz Torres, who served as Vice Minister of Defense during the mandate of President Gustavo Petro, was confirmed. Díaz Torres, recognized for his denunciation of corruption attempts related to aircraft purchases, would have suffered a heart problem. General Díaz Torres left his position in the Petro government on June 15, 2023, after publicly revealing that he had been offered million-dollar bribes in exchange for authorizing the purchase of three helicopters for the Colombian Army. His statements shook the political sphere by pointing out that the pressure to purchase the aircraft came from a person close to the first lady, Verónica Alcocer, and that they had offered her up to 700 million pesos in bribes. In response to the complaint, President Petro removed him from office, alleging an alleged case of labor abuse in which the former vice minister would be involved.

In Israel, Military intelligence chief Aharon Haliva has become the first senior Israeli official to resign over failures to prevent the October 7 attack by the Qassam Brigades and other Palestinian armed groups in southern Israel, a move expected to increase pressure on other top leaders to follow suit. “The intelligence directorate under my command did not live up to the task we were entrusted with,” Haliva wrote in a letter addressed to the Israeli army chief and published on Monday. “I carry that black day with me ever since, day after day, night after night.” The 57-year-old, a 38-year veteran of the Israeli military, said he would leave his post once a replacement is found. He also called for the establishment of an investigative committee to determine in an “in-depth, comprehensive and precise manner” all circumstances that led to the October 7 attack. On that day, Hamas’s Qassam Brigades launched a surprise assault from Gaza, killing more than 1,130 people and taking some 240 captive. The attack on the southern communities is regarded as Israel’s worst intelligence failure since the country’s creation in 1948. Israel responded with a ferocious bombing campaign on Gaza that has so far killed more than 34,000 people and displaced most of its 2.2 million residents. It also reduced huge swaths of the besieged enclave into rubble and pushed segments of the population into starvation.

In the realm of regulatory affairs, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) blitz on breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules has continued, with more than £76,000 in fines handed out to a solicitor and four law firms. David Partington, a partner at Manchester firm Ogden Lyles & Fox, was fined £11,013 for allowing the firm’s client account to be used for payments and transfers on his and his family’s conveyancing matters which were unrelated to an underlying legal transaction. This occurred on at least six files between 2013 and 2021. Further, on two occasions, a member of Mr Partington’s family loaned money which was already being held by the firm on another matter to help other clients purchase properties, at an annual interest rate of up to 12%. The loans were secured by charges registered in the name of the family member. “There were no documents located on the matter file to demonstrate that Mr Partington had considered potential own interest conflict in allowing his family member to loan money to clients,” the SRA said. “There was no evidence that he advised the clients to obtain independent legal advice before they accepted the loans.” Between December 2018 and February 2019, Mr Partington acted for both sides on the sale of a property from a mother to her son at an undervalue, allegedly without her knowledge or consent. He failed to undertake adequate client due diligence even though the transaction had unusual features and contained ‘red flag’ indicators referenced in the SRA money laundering warning notice.

Shifting our attention to legal advancements, in the Czech Republic, Former TOP 09 MP Dominik Feri, was given a three-year prison sentence for raping two women and the attempted rape of another. He was spoken of as an extraordinary talent. A rising star with a million followers on Instagram, who made politics relevant for younger generations. As recently as 2018, Politico ranked him among 28 people who would shape Europe in the years ahead. But earlier this week, Dominik Feri was sentenced to three years in prison for rape. A man once feted as the great hope of the Czech Republic, and the youngest member of parliament in the country’s history is now its first politician to be jailed for sexual violence.