Foreign Digest Updates: United Kingdom, Italy and Zimbabwe

United Kingdom

            The new Conservative Government led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson lost its parliamentary majority, although not its right to govern, and its first parliamentary votes.  Of particular significance were the votes in Parliament to prohibit leaving the European Union without a deal and to oppose the Government’s call for early elections.  The deadline for leaving the EU is the end of October.  The main obstacle is the border situation between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  The Conservatives rule in coalition with a Northern Irish Unionist party that opposes the temporary arrangement for the Irish border negotiated between the EU and the United Kingdom that Parliament has thrice rejected, although the last time by significantly fewer votes.  The EU has repeated that it will not renegotiate the deal, although it is willing to clarify details.  A significant group of Tories, include some senior members, voted against the Government and were expelled from the Conservative Party.  New elections may be the way to break the impasse and avoid leaving the EU without a deal.

Italy

            The new Italian Government was sworn in yesterday, led by the same Prime Minister as the previous one.  The difference is that the junior partner is the main center-left party, instead of the far-right Trumpist xenophobic pro-Russian League party, with the premier’s anti-establishment populists continuing as the senior partner.  The Parliament will vote its confidence early next week.  The new executive will be able to avoid a major sales tax increase and pass a budget.  Italy will be more pro-European Union, where it will take a leading role, and maintain its international obligations for refugees.  Anti-corruption measures will be a major focus of the new Government.  The high-speed rail between Turin, Italy and Lyon, France, is more likely to be built. 

The far-right party had attempted to capitalize on favorable polls to force a cabinet reshuffle or new elections.  Instead, they are out of power, the Italian Republic will move leftward, especially in regard to spending and the environment, and the center-right is marginalized. 

Italy is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and strong ally of the United States. 

Zimbabwe

           The former longtime Marxist-oriented tyrant of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, has died at age 95.  He took power after the former Rhodesia’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1980 and intended to rule for life until he was finally deposed by the military, led by his own party, in 2017 because of corruption.  Mugabe repressed Zimbabweans, led his country to economic ruin with the worst-ever hyperinflation in history and stole farms owned by whites.  He is hailed by the Left as being an opponent of imperialism because Rhodesia had been led by a white minority government, but his record of misrule and human rights violations, especially against the black majority, is undeniable.  Today’s one-party state nature of Zimbabwe is his legacy.