Politically Exposed Person (PEP) Weekly Digest – Volume 139

139th PEP Weekly Digest:

Introducing the 139th edition of The PEP Weekly Digest, where we present to you the most recent updates and news on the global political stage.

Recent and upcoming elections influence the worldwide political landscape in eight nations, slated between Jan 11, 2026 and Apr 12, 2026. These elections hold significant importance, as they will determine the direction and governance of each respective country’s future.

Roderick Galdes Resigns as Malta’s Affordable Housing Minister Amid Allegations Linking Family to Contractors

One noteworthy event has occurred in Malta: Roderick Galdes has resigned from his post as Affordable Housing Minister following a series of allegations linking him to contractors, which he described as “attacks”, insisting that he had “done nothing wrong”.

The Prime Minister said he has accepted the resignation.

The resignation comes on the eve of a story in The Sunday Times of Malta linking his family to a housing contractor.

The minister resigned ahead of these new revelations, citing “synchronised attacks to ruin my political career, as well as personal attacks even on my family”.

Galdes said in a statement that his resignation will now “ensure he is in a position to defend his and his family’s integrity”, ensuring the “full truth” will emerge.

Sven Schulze Elected Saxony-Anhalt Premier in First-Round Victory, Succeeding Reiner Haseloff

Shifting our focus to Germany, the Saxony-Anhalt parliament has elected CDU politician and former minister of Economic Affairs Sven Schulze as the new state premier. The forty-six-year-old secured the necessary majority in the first round of voting. Schulze succeeds Reiner Haseloff, also a Christian Democrat, who resigned from his position – which he had held since 2011 – before the end of the legislative term, to allow his successor to present himself for the September 6 vote as incumbent premier and not as a CDU premier candidate, thus from a stronger position, in view of a difficult electoral appointment.

58 deputies voted in favor of Schulze, 38 against, with no abstentions. One vote was invalid. The required majority was 49 votes; the ruling coalition, CDU-SPD-FDP, has 56. Schulze secured two additional votes. The election result is remarkable, ‘Der Spiegel’ observes: there were reservations about Schulze within the coalition, even within the CDU itself. And when his predecessor Haseloff was elected in 2016 and 2021, he did not pass in the first round on either occasion. The fact that Schulze succeeded so clearly on the first attempt, with the help of opponents, is surprising.

Sunetra Pawar Becomes Maharashtra’s First Woman Deputy Chief Minister Following Husband’s Tragic Death

In India, Sunetra Pawar, the wife of Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar, took an oath as Maharashtra’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister, days after her husband and four others died in a plane crash in Baramati. She has been given charge of excise duty, sports and youth welfare, and minorities development. Finance and planning, the portfolios handled by her husband, will be handled by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Sunetra Pawar, 62, was unanimously elected as the NCP Legislature Party leader. Her name was proposed by party leader Chhagan Bhujbal and seconded by Dilip Patil and a host of other MLAs. A letter informing of this decision was sent to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who then forwarded it to Governor Acharya Devvrat.

Bank Negara Malaysia Fines Four Banks Over AML and CFT Compliance Failures, Totaling RM1.07 Million

In the realm of regulatory affairs, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has issued financial penalties against four entities for failing to meet anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism regulations.

The sanctions amount to a combined total of RM1,074,625.

MBSB Bank Berhad received the largest penalty, with a fine of RM560,000 for failing to submit a suspicious transaction report on unusually large cash withdrawals that met its internal red flag criteria.

BNM said the lapse was due to inadequate staff awareness of STR requirements.

Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank) was penalised RM460,000 for not promptly submitting STRs on suspicious activities involving several customers, which the central bank also attributed to insufficient staff awareness.

Former Armenian Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan Sentenced for Fraud, Later Pardoned Under General Amnesty

Shifting our attention to Armenia, former Armenian Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan was sentenced to four years and six months imprisonment after being found guilty of abuse of power and fraud conspiracy.

Poghosyan, who served as culture minister from 2006 to 2016, was implicated in the fraudulent theft, organized by a criminal gang, of a 300 square meter area the government provided to the Yerevan Tchaikovsky Secondary Music School SNCO (state non-commercial organization).

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court then pardoned Poghosyan under a general amnesty (“On Declaring Amnesty in Criminal Cases in Commemoration of the 2800th Anniversary of the Foundation of Erebuni-Yerevan and the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the First Republic of Armenia”), which entered into force on November 6, 2018.

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