Thailand: Parliament dissolved, elections within 60 days

Today's headlines: Jimmy Lai's trial verdict in Hong Kong on Monday 15th; Filippino civil society joins anti-corruption campaign filing criminal complaints against Sara Duterte; Delhi simplifies visas for Chinese entrepreneurs; At least 50,000 people in Kuwait will be stripped of their citizenship by 2024; Uzbekistan aims for oil self-sufficiency with the exploitation of the Karakalpakstan fields.

THAILAND

Thailand has dissolved parliament and will hold elections within 60 days. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul was forced to take this step by the withdrawal of external support from the People's Party, the reformist party that a few months ago had allowed his government to come to power after the break between Pheu Thai, the Shinawatra family's party, and the military establishment. The dissolution of the House comes at a time of renewed fighting with Cambodia, which has killed at least 20 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in recent days. Anutin and his Bhumjaithai party have been heavily criticised in recent weeks for their handling of severe flooding in southern Thailand, which has killed at least 176 people.

HONG KONG

The verdict in the trial of Jimmy Lai, the pro-democracy media mogul, is expected on Monday 15 December in Hong Kong. Lai, who turned 78 on Monday and has been in prison since 2020, is accused of conspiring with foreign forces under Beijing's national security law. If convicted, he faces life imprisonment.

INDIA-CHINA

India has simplified the procedures for issuing business visas to Chinese professionals, reducing the approval time to less than a month. This is a further step in the rapprochement between the two Asian giants triggered by the cooling of relations with Washington due to the introduction of tariffs. India had blocked virtually all visits from China after the clash between the two neighbours on their Himalayan border in mid-2020.

PHILIPPINES

A group of civil society leaders have filed several criminal complaints - including embezzlement, extortion, misappropriation and corruption - against Vice President Sara Duterte and 15 other people for the alleged misuse of 612.5 million pesos. The complaint alleges that these reserved funds were “diverted, misused and concealed through coordinated schemes” implemented at both the Office of the Vice-President and the Department of Education, which Duterte headed from 2022 to June 2024. The complaint comes in the midst of an anti-corruption campaign sparked by street protests over the misuse of public funds allocated for flood mitigation works that were never carried out. The protests have weakened President Marcos, with Sara Duterte - who has been at odds with him for almost two years now - aspiring to take his place through impeachment proceedings.

KUWAIT

At least 50,000 people in Kuwait have lost their citizenship since September 2024. However, in the absence of official data, which the government does not release, some estimates put the figure as high as 200,000, out of a population of just under five million. Since Sheikh Mishal Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah came to power in 2023, Kuwait has seen a severe crackdown on democratic freedoms. Parliament was suspended in May 2024, as were key articles of the constitution relating to citizenship. These measures have been used to revoke the citizenship of tens of thousands of Kuwaitis, including activists, politicians and ordinary citizens.

RUSSIA

Filmmaker Aleksandr Sokurov spoke at a meeting of the Russian Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, which Vladimir Putin himself attended remotely, speaking openly about problems ‘that have been accumulating over the years’, such as the reduction in state jobs, which takes away opportunities for young people, the excessive pressure on the creative intelligentsia, the absence of public debate on politics, which has a negative impact on the younger generation, and the state's fear of its own citizens.

UZBEKISTAN-AZERBAIJAN

The president of the Uzbek oil company Uzbekneftegaz, Bakhodiržon Sidikov, has stated that Uzbekistan expects to be able to do without importing petroleum products thanks to a joint project with Azerbaijan's Socar company, with research in the Ustjurt region of Karakalpakstan, which alone could guarantee the country's petroleum independence based on its own untapped resources.

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