Hello and Welcome. This is The Capitals. Your weekly recap of some of the biggest stories from capitals around the world.
In New Delhi, surrounded by India’s secular traditions and acclimated by the opposition’s partial boycott, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a new, bigger parliament.
“When India moves forward, the world moves forward. This new building of the parliament will call for the development of the world along with the development of India,” Modi said, while adding that the world’s biggest democracy has shed its colonial baggage by shifting to a parliament premise built in free India.
Ankara, Turkey
“We can say bye bye to Kemal. Bye bye and bye Kemal,” said Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a roaring crowd of supporters as he won country’s unprecedented run off vote, trumping his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu, to claim the beginning of his third decade into power in Ankara’s corridors of power.
Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics for 20 years – and he is now set to serve another five-year term.
Abuja, Nigeria
A new president will run the state of affairs from Abuja’s corridors of power. President Muhammadu Buhari over the weekend addressed his fellow citizens and ‘friends of Nigeria’, defending his record over economy and security issues and hailing his successor Bola Tinubu.
“To my brother, friend and fellow worker in the political terrain for the past ten years – Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I congratulate you on the realisation of your dream, which was propelled by a burning passion to put Nigeria amongst the leading nations of the world,” Buharu said in his address to the nation.
Meanwhile, the electoral call of presidential succession in Abuja remains disputed as incoming President Bola Tinubu’s victory is being challenged by two opposition rivals. On May 30, a court will hear main arguments in the election petition.
Moscow, Russia
Moscow slammed the US-led effort to boost Ukraine’s war-effort with F-16 fighter jets.
Calling the move “an unacceptable escalation” of the conflict, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said,
“It’s playing with fire, without a doubt,” as he condemned the attempt to “weaken Russia” by “Washington, London and their satellites in the European Union”.
Yerevan, Armenia
The Armenian capital this week showed signs of deepening its truce with Baku, the Azeri capital. Armenian leader Nikol Pashinyan said this week that his nation was willing to recognise the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave in its entirety as a part of Azerbaijan given rights of ethnic Armenians living in the region are guaranteed.
He acknowledged, “The 86,600 sq km of Azerbaijan’s territory includes Nagorno-Karabakh.” “If we understand each other correctly, then Armenia recognises the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan within the named limits, and Baku – the territorial integrity of Armenia at 29,800 sq km,” he added.
Paris, France
The heart-moulding elevation of excitement towards the Paris 2024 Olympics achieved a moment of significance this week as the Olympic committee and French authorities presented protocol for Paris 2024’s Olympic opening ceremony.
For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympic Games, the Opening ceremony will not be taking place in a stadium. Instead, the extravaganza will unfold along the River Seine, with spectators lining streets and bridges in the heart of the French capital. The plan is not without risks, and organisers revealed extensive safety protocols this week.
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