Many important political elections and several anniversaries of the 1948 declarations of independence. Then the new ASEAN presidency, which went to Indonesia, and the G20, which will be held in India.
Many political elections and many anniversaries, but few international events currently on the agenda of Asian countries for 2023: below, all the appointments.
POLITICS
With the arrival of the new year, the presidency of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) passed from Cambodia to Indonesia. On the other hand, the G20 will be held on September 9 and 10 in New Delhi, the Indian capital, while, after passing through Egypt, the United Nations Conference on climate change (Cop28) will be held in the Emirates United Arabs.
There are many electoral events: among the most important we highlight the general elections in Thailand on May 7, where a political clash is expected between the conservative supporters of the monarchy and the younger generations who took to the streets in 2020 demanding democratic reforms. On the other hand, presidential elections in Turkey are expected on June 18: Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been in power for two decades, but his party’s popularity has waned in recent years and an opposition coalition called the “Table of Six ” will present its own candidate.
There will also be presidential elections in Singapore in September, while the citizens of Pakistan will elect new members of Parliament in October. To rein in former Prime Minister Imran Khan, current Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif sided with the Bhutto family’s longstanding enemies. There is also turmoil over the elections in Bangladesh, where fighting has already begun: in recent months, opposition forces and some citizens, suffering from economic conditions, have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
General elections will also be held in Cambodia in July, but the experts are not expecting big surprises: for the moment all the seats in Parliament belong to the Cambodia’s People Party from which Prime Minister Hun Sen comes, in power since 1984. Even the coup junta of Burma announced general elections, originally scheduled for August. However, even if they are held, due to the ongoing civil conflict, they cannot be free and democratic.
The annual session of the Chinese Parliament opens in mid-March, with the formal appointment of the new government: Li Keqiang steps down after 10 years, replaced in all probability by Li Qiang, former head of the Communist Party of China in Shanghai and an ally of confidence of Xi Jinping, who won his third term in October. The focus is on the pandemic emergency and the state of the economy
ANNIVERSARIES
October will mark the centenary of the birth of modern Turkey when the Ottoman Empire ended. In the rest of the Asian continent, the anniversaries will almost all be linked to the end of colonial rule and the national independence obtained 75 years ago, in 1948: the first to celebrate it will be Myanmar, which gained independence from the United Kingdom on January 4, and then Sri Lanka a month later, on February 4. In August and September the 75th anniversary of the birth of the two Koreas will be remembered, while in May the birth of the State of Israel will be celebrated. October 6 will mark 50 years since the Yom Kippur War. Finally, January 30 will mark the 75th anniversary of the death of Mahatma Gandhi, assassinated by a Hindu extremist.
RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS AND SPORTS EVENTS
The Continental Synodal Assembly of Asia will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, from February 24 to 26, and the presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the continent will participate. Finally, we point out some religious festivals: on January 22 the Chinese New Year is celebrated, which will start the year of the rabbit, while on March 22 Ramadan will begin. Diwali will be celebrated on November 12. India will host the Cricket World Cup between October and November, while the Asian Games, scheduled for 2022 in Hangzhou, China, have been postponed to the end of September 2023 due to the rising number of Covid-19 infections.
