Headlines:
- Saudi Coup?
- Women Denied Citizenship for not Shaking Hands
- Erdogan Calls for Snap Election
Saudi Coup?
On April 21st the area surrounding the royal palace in the capitol of Saudi Arabia was riddled with gunfire, in what was reported as possible coup attempt. The office of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud reported there was no coup attempt, but a toy drone was shot down over the palace. But many witnesses in the area at the time reported there was a coup attempt against the King and his Crown Prince, Mohammed Bin Salman. The King and Crown Prince have carried out the Kingdom’s largest coup since the Kingdom was created. It is naturally those who have lost out would rein response in form and shape. Whilst it remains to be see if this was a coup attempt, it is likely we may see many more similar acts.
Women Denied Citizenship for not Shaking Hands
An Algerian woman’s refusal to shake hands with male officials at a French naturalization ceremony has been denied citizenship, France’s top administrative court has ruled.
In its decision reported this week — the court, known as the Council of State, said that the woman’s refusal “in a place and at a moment that are symbolic, reveals a lack of assimilation.” The woman, who has not been identified, married a French citizen in Algeria in 2010 and filed for French citizenship five years later. At her naturalization ceremony in 2016 in Grenoble, in southeastern France, the woman refused to shake the hands of a local state official and of a local elected official, both male, citing her religious convictions. The woman appealed, but the court ruled that the decree was legal. The ruling was based on a law that gives the government two years after a foreign spouse files for naturalization to oppose the request, on grounds of “lack of assimilation, other than linguistic.” The court also ruled that the decision was not detrimental to her freedom of religion.
Erdogan Calls for Snap Election
On April 18, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called a snap presidential and parliamentary elections, to be held on June 24 — nearly a year and a half early. The decision followed consultations between Erdogan and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party. The snap elections are a key test for Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP), which despite holding a parliamentary majority, faces challenges that could erode its popularity. Erdogan managed to pass key reforms which made amendments to the role of the president and reduced the power in the parliament, whilst empowering the president. All of these are to take place with the next general election to the president. By calling for a snap election Erdogan has moved quickly to capitalise upon his popularity before other challenges emerge.