Politically Exposed Person (PEP) Weekly Digest – Volume 174

171st PEP Weekly Digest:

Introducing the 171st 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 Sep 27, 2026 and Oct 25, 2026. These elections hold significant importance, as they will determine the direction and governance of each respective country’s future.

Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri Named Morocco’s First Female Prime Minister

One noteworthy event has occurred in Morocco, King Mohammed VI has named Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri as prime minister, making the 50-year-old the first woman to hold the role in the kingdom and the third woman to serve as prime minister in the Arab world.

The royal palace said in a statement that El Mansouri, an urban planning minister and the mayor of Marrakesh, was tasked with forming a new government.

El Mansouri said in a televised address her appointment was “truly historic”.

“For the first time in our country’s history, a woman is taking on the responsibility of leading the government,” she said. “This is a source of pride not only for me but for all Moroccan women.”

The appointment came four days after the results of last week’s elections were announced, with El Mansouri’s monarchy-aligned Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM) winning the most votes to secure 97 of the 395 seats in the House of Representatives, Morocco’s lower house of parliament.

Arrmanatha Nasir Appointed Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Under President Prabowo

Shifting our focus to Indonesia, President Prabowo Subianto’s appointment of Arrmanatha Nasir as Indonesia’s foreign minister on 1 October (opens in new window) puts a career diplomat back in charge of Indonesian diplomacy. It is tempting to read the move as a correction after two years of intensely personal presidential diplomacy. Yet the appointment alone offers little evidence that the ministry will gain greater influence over decisions made at the palace.

Arrmanatha was already deputy minister when the government made its most consequential commitments, and in February he defended Indonesia’s Board of Peace membership(Opens in new window) before parliamentarians. His promotion may give him more say over how those commitments are implemented. Whether he can question new ones before they are made will depend on the authority Prabowo grants him.

Slovakia Parliament Dismisses Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba

In Slovakia, on 29 September 2026, Slovakia’s National Council voted to dismiss Deputy Prime Minister and Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba. The motion passed 77–0, with 73 members absent. The decisive votes came from the Slovak National Party (SNS), a junior partner in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s coalition, which sided with the opposition. Fico immediately called a meeting of Smer-SD’s leadership for 30 September to decide the government’s next steps and again raised the possibility of a January snap election.

The vote turned a months-long internal feud into an open parliamentary rupture. The three-party government of Smer-SD, Hlas-SD (Voice) and SNS had been governing with a razor-thin majority of 78 seats in the 150-seat chamber, dependent on a handful of loyal independents. Taraba’s dismissal and expected return to parliament as an independent, together with two or three allied MPs, would leave the coalition with at most 75 reliable votes.

Hong Kong SFC Fines Zheng Da HK$7 Million Over AML/CFT Failures

In the realm of regulatory affairs, Hong Kong SFC enforcement has resulted in a HK$7 million fine against Zheng Da International Financial Holding Limited over AML/CFT and control failures linked to futures trading.

According to the SFC material, Zheng Da failed to conduct due diligence or testing on customer supplied systems used by 160 clients between 1 December 2021 and 30 September 2023.

The regulator said the lack of controls left the firm unable to properly assess money laundering, terrorist financing, and other risks linked to those systems.

The SFC also found that deposits into eight client accounts were inconsistent with the financial profiles declared at account opening, while Zheng Da had no records supporting claimed follow-up enquiries.

The regulator further identified 176 instances where the same client placed buy and sell orders for the same futures contract within the same second and at the same price, but the firm’s monitoring systems did not detect the activity.

Former Miami Congressman David Rivera Sentenced to 10 Years Over Venezuela Lobbying Campaign

Shifting our attention to the United States, a former Miami congressman and longtime friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sentenced to 10 years in prison in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on Venezuela’s behalf during the first Trump administration.

Republican David Rivera has been jailed since jurors found him guilty in May on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of his work for former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s government.

Rivera, 61, appeared stone-faced as Judge Melissa Damian denounced him for betraying his life’s mission, saying he would surely have been judged harshly his many friends had the millions of dollars come from the Cuban regime instead of its allies in Caracas.

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