Politically Exposed Person (PEP) Weekly Digest – Volume 103

103rd PEP Weekly Digest:

Introducing the 103rd 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 May 17, 2025 and July 26, 2025. These elections hold significant importance, as they will determine the direction and governance of each respective country’s future

Japan’s Agriculture Minister Resigns After Backlash Over Rice Shortage Remark

One noteworthy event has occurred in Japan, it’s agriculture minister resigned amid an uproar over his remark that he had never bought a bag of rice, his nation’s staple grain, which is in short supply nationally.

The comment drew more attention to the government’s inability to resolve the rice shortage, which has driven up the cost of a food consumed by almost every Japanese household. Prices have remained high despite the release of thousands of tons of rice from an emergency government stockpile.

Frustrations boiled over after the agricultural minister, Taku Eto, made the offhand comment.

“I have never bought rice myself,” Mr. Eto said during a speech on farming policy. “Frankly, my supporters give me quite a lot of rice. I have so much rice at home that I could sell it.”

Biswo Nath Poudel Appointed Nepal’s Central Bank Governor, Ending Coalition Deadlock

Shifting our focus to Nepal, Economist Biswo Nath Poudel has been appointed as the new governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank of Nepal, ending a prolonged discord within the ruling coalition of Nepal.

The 49-year-old Poudel, a former economic adviser at the International Labour Organization (ILO), replaces Maha Prasad Adhikari, who completed his five-year term on April 7.

The position of the central bank chief had been vacant for over 40 days due to disagreements among allies of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli’s ruling coalition regarding the candidate selection process. Poudel’s appointment is seen as a resolution to the impasse, as he is considered to have close ties to the centrist Nepali Congress party, a key member of the ruling coalition.

Sudan’s Al-Burhan Appoints Kamil Idris as Prime Minister Amid Political Uncertainty

In Sudan, Sovereign Council head, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, issued a constitutional decree on May 19, appointing Kamil al-Tayeb Idris as the new prime minister.

Idris’s appointment comes three weeks after diplomat Dafallah Al-Haj Ali was named Prime Minister but did not assume the role.

The UN Security Council had recently expressed deep concern over a pact by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allies to form a government. It warned it could worsen the war and humanitarian crisis.

The updated constitutional document sets the Sovereign Council at 11 members: six appointed by the military and three by signatories of the Juba Peace Agreement. The council must include women and represent Sudan’s regions.

Al-Burhan can appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister with a recommendation from the transitional legislative authority. Sudan’s transitional period has been extended to a maximum of 39 months unless national consensus or elections are reached sooner.

Bank Edmond de Rothschild Convicted in 1MDB Scandal, Marking First Money Laundering Verdict for Luxembourg Bank

In the realm of regulatory affairs, Bank Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) has been convicted of money laundering and handling stolen goods, with €25m confiscated as part of the 1MDB scandal–a first for a banking institution in Luxembourg. VIIth correctional chamber of the Luxembourg district court convicted Bank Edmond de Rothschild (Europe) of money laundering and handling stolen goods, the judicial administration announced in a press release. “This is the first time that a Luxembourg banking institution has been convicted of money laundering.”

The penalty handed down includes the confiscation of €25m “previously seized from the bank’s assets, and now attributed to the Luxembourg state.”

This conviction comes in the context of the “1MDB” affair and the fraudulent misappropriation of several billion dollars to the detriment of the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

DR Congo Court Sentences Ex-PM Matata Ponyo to 10 Years for $245M Embezzlement in Failed Farm Project

Shifting our attention to Democratic Republic of Congo, a top court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced former Prime Minister Matata Ponyo Mapon to 10 years of forced labour after convicting him of embezzling $245 million from a failed agricultural project.

Ponyo, who served from 2012 to 2016 under former President Joseph Kabila, was tried in absentia along with former central bank governor Deogratias Mutombo and South African businessman Christo Grobler. Both Mutombo and Grobler received five-year sentences. None of the three is currently in custody.

The charges relate to a massive corn farming project launched under Kabila’s administration, which collapsed in 2017. Investigations into the failed initiative began in 2021 under President Félix Tshisekedi.

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