South Korean President Declares, Lifts Martial Law
On Tuesday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a televised address, a measure he claimed was necessary to combat “anti-state” forces. Protests erupted across the capital, Seoul. One hundred ninety members of the nation’s National Assembly convened and voted unanimously to order Yoon to rescind the emergency measure. Yoon complied and lifted martial law only hours after enacting it. Several senior members of Yoon’s administration resigned from their posts, and Yoon himself now faces calls for resignation or impeachment. Yoon faced low approval ratings and difficulty passing his budget through the opposition-controlled parliament. An official motion to impeach Yoon was submitted by opposition parties Wednesday.
French Government Ousted in No Confidence Vote
The French Parliament passed a motion of no confidence, supported by both the far-left and the far-right, against Prime Minister Michel Barnier in response to Barnier forcing a controversial budget bill through without a vote. This is the first successful no confidence vote in France since 1962. Barnier submitted his resignation Thursday, but will remain in office in a caretaker position until a new government can be formed. Barnier’s three-month stint as prime minister is set to become the shortest in modern French history. Barnier became prime minister 59 days after the French legislative elections this summer. Those elections produced a divided parliament — fractured between the far-left, the far-right, and the center — which has struggled to form a government.
Presidential, Parliamentary Elections Held in Romania
Romanians voted in the first round of their presidential election Nov. 24. Independent far-right nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu received the most votes for president in the first round in a major upset. He and liberal politician Elena Lasconi will compete in a runoff election Dec. 8, which will see one of them elected president. Georgescu’s surprising success has been attributed to his popularity on TikTok, with many raising concerns that Russian interference played a role. The European Union ordered TikTok to preserve data related to the election in anticipation of an investigation.
Romanians also voted in parliamentary elections Dec. 1. Four major political parties, which combined earned a majority of seats, are set to form a pro-EU coalition government. In doing so, they prevent a legislative victory for the far-right.
Rebel Forces Make Gains in Syria
Rebel forces in Syria have made major advances over the past week. This includes capturing parts of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and areas in the province of Idlib. The rebels seek to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The rebel group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which led the surprise offensive, is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and many other countries. Another rebel group that participated in the offensive was the Syrian National Army, a loose alliance of rebel militants supported by the nation of Turkey. This past week’s events are the latest developments in the Syrian Civil War, which has been ongoing since 2011.
Irish Elections Produce Divided Government
In Irish elections, the country’s two major center-right parties — Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which have been governing together in a coalition along with the Green Party since 2020 — won 48 and 38 seats, respectively. Together, they are just two seats short of a majority. They will likely stay in power by broadening their coalition to include third-parties or certain independents. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have both said they won’t work with left-wing party Sinn Féin, which historically had ties to the Irish Republican Army and Provisional Irish Republican Army.
