Insights

A controversy over the sale of state-owned land at a deep discount to a school affiliated with the ultra-nationalist Nippon Kaigei organization continues to cause political headaches for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who faces pressure to explain why documents related to the sale were altered to Read Entire Entry

Elections Unlikely to Produce Mandate for Reform Prime Minister Najib Razak dissolved the national legislature on April 7, setting the clock ticking for an early election that will be held on May 9.  Although the incumbent National Front (BN), a multiparty alliance dominated by the Najib’s Read Entire Entry

The replacement of Prime Minister Beata Szydlo by her finance minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, on December 11 brought a dramatic end to a year marked by rising tensions in Poland’s relationship with the EU. Morawiecki is a former independent who joined the PiS in 2016, but previously served in the Read Entire Entry

The political temperature was already running high in Honduras ahead of the presidential election held on November 26, and the simmering tensions boiled over even before all the votes were counted, amid claims by the opposition that the incumbent PN administration was stealing the election. The Read Entire Entry

Dear Clients, As ICRG was wrapping up its March ratings, developments affecting North Korea were gaining steam. Just weeks before a scheduled April 27th meeting between Kim Jong Un and South Korea President Moon Jae-in – to be followed presumably in May by a get-together with President Trump – Read Entire Entry

With controversy still swirling around the peace agreement with the FARC, and President Juan Manuel Santos pursuing the rather quixotic goal of concluding a separate deal with the ELN, it seemed safe to assume that this year’s presidential election would once again be a referendum on the Read Entire Entry

Local elections held on February 10 were widely viewed as a referendum on the performance of the reformist government made up of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s UNP and the faction of SLFP that has remained loyal to President Maithripala Sirisena after he unexpectedly unseated Mahinda Read Entire Entry

The country is now fully in election mode ahead of a presidential contest scheduled for March 18. Barring an act of nature, it is a foregone conclusion that Vladimir Putin will win another six-year term, extending his mandate to 2024. Putin has distanced himself from the United Russia brand by Read Entire Entry

Dear Clients, With volatility and risk remaining at relatively high levels following the global sell-off (and partial recovery) in equities earlier this month, we’ve received several calls from clients about oil prices and how political risk might affect them. The inquiries are relevant as the Read Entire Entry

The imminent transfer of the presidency from Ian Khama to his vice president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, will provide the latter with 18 months to settle into the top job before leading the incumbent BDP into the next general election campaign in October 2019. However, he will inherit a financial scandal Read Entire Entry