Introducing the 49th 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 29, 2024 and June 02, 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 Afghanistan, Afghanistan’s top diplomat in India resigned days after she was reportedly caught by airport authorities smuggling nearly $2 million worth of gold into the country. Zakia Wardak, the Afghan Consul-General in India’s financial capital Mumbai, posted a statement on social media announcing her resignation. Afghanistan’s embassy in New Delhi shut down in November, more than two years after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul following the collapse of the Western-backed government, leaving Wardak as the country’s most senior representative in India. Indian media reports said Wardak was stopped last month by financial intelligence authorities at Mumbai airport on arrival from Dubai, along with her son, carrying about 55 pounds of gold. She was not arrested because of her diplomatic immunity, the reports said, but the gold — worth around $1.9 million — was confiscated.

Shifting our focus to China, Ma Xiaowei, China’s health minister who handled the country’s Covid-19 response, has stepped down as he nears official retirement age, to be succeeded by his top deputy, Lei Haichao, a prominent public health expert. On Monday, the National Health Commission’s website showed deputy director Lei, 56, had been appointed Communist Party secretary of the NHC – a step before a formal directorship appointment. Ma’s name was removed from the commission’s leadership page at the same time. In December he will turn 65, the retirement age for ministerial-ranked officials. Ma, who became NHC chief in March 2018, implemented President Xi Jinping’s “zero-Covid policy” during the country’s pandemic fight from 2020 to 2023. He was a staunch defender of Beijing’s strict control and containment policies, including early detection through exhaustive testing, speedy lockdowns during an outbreak and extensive quarantine for travellers.

In Kazakhstan, Former General Manager of Binance Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev was appointed as Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry. “By decree of the Head of State, Zhaslan Madiyev has been appointed as Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan”. From October 2022, Madiyev worked as general manager of Binance Kazakhstan. From 2020 to 2022 – he worked as deputy chairman of the agency for strategic planning and reforms.

In the realm of regulatory affairs, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed a composition penalty of S$2.5 million on Swiss-Asia Financial Services Pte. Ltd. (SAFS) for breaches of MAS’ anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements. MAS has also issued a reprimand to SAFS’ chief executive officer (CEO), Mr Olivier Pascal Mivelaz, and its chief operating officer (COO), Mr Steve Knabl, for failing to discharge their duties and functions of ensuring that SAFS complied with MAS’ AML/CFT requirements.

Shifting our attention to legal advancements, Former Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama was sentenced Thursday to a year in prison for interfering in a criminal investigation while he headed the government of his South Pacific island nation. Acting High Court of Fiji Chief Justice Salesi Temo sentenced the 70-year-old in the capital Suva on a conviction for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho received a 2-year prison sentence on a conviction for abuse of office. Bainimarama had led his government for 16 years, first as a military dictator following a 2006 coup and then as a prime minister who was democratically elected in 2014 and 2018. After the 2022 election, he was succeeded by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who also first seized power as a coup leader in 1987. Bainimarama was prime minister in 2019 when he ended a police investigation into allegations of financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific.