The Australian cricket team was caught tampering with the ball in the third Test match of their tour in South Africa, sparking global outrage and revulsion among the sporting community. On Sunday, Turkey’s President Erdogan celebrated the Turkish victory over Kurdish forces in Afrin in Syria by saying that he will advance across Syria, which might put him in direct conflict with American troops in the region. The Peruvian president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, was forced to resign last week after evidence of corruption surfaced.
Cheating fans of the sport
“Extraordinary, unprecedented, and an unashamed disgrace,” writes Kate O’Halloran in The Guardian, describing the Australian ball tampering affair. Cameron Bancroft was caught tampering with the ball on camera during a Test match in South Africa, after which both he and the captain Steve Smith admitted to cheating in a press conference. Both have been slapped with penalties, which some fans think are insufficient.
“Whatever one thinks of cricket, integrity is written into the heart of this game. Australia has a history of coming down hard on nations perceived as, or caught, cheating, and its fans have every right to feel betrayed by its hypocritical national team,” O’Halloran writes.
“Make no mistake, this was, as former captain Michael Clarke was unafraid to say on live television, “pre-meditated, blatant cheating”. Cricket fans will not stand for that, and Cricket Australia must act in accordance. All players involved must be sacked, but recognition must also be given to the fact that it was the most inexperienced player in the team – at just eight Tests – who was instructed by the leadership team to cheat.”
Steve Smith’s admission of guilt rests on flimsy grounds, because he did not seem too remorseful. Blaming the “leadership group’s” bad decision, Smith said that he can “hopefully learn” from the incident. “Such arrogance shows that Smith has no comprehension of the betrayal he and his team have committed, a blatant act of cheating that brings the nation’s past and indeed future into disrepute,” writes O’Halloran.
The Australian cricket team must decide if they are sorry for cheating, or sorry for getting caught.
What Trump should ask of Erdogan
The tension between Turkey and the United States could escalate given Sunday’s development unless something decisive is done about it, editorialises the Washington Post. The Turkish victory in Afrin took eight weeks, and Erdogan afterwards said that his forces would now advance across north-eastern Syria, bringing them face-to-face with US troops.
“Mr. Erdogan, who seems to grow steadily more power-drunk, is likely bluffing. But the United States now faces an acute strategic problem in Syria: how to preserve its de facto control over a large stretch of territory east of the Euphrates River without going to war against a NATO ally.”
“The easy way out of the dilemma is to cave in to Mr. Erdogan. But that would only stir up more trouble for the Trump administration, both in Syria and in Turkey.”
The reason behind the dispute is the American partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by a Syrian Kurdish movement allied with Kurdish militants in Turkey. The SDF was instrumental in the defeat of the Islamic State in eastern Syria. Erdogan maintains that Syrian Kurds are terrorists, and wants them out of Turkey.
“The fraught discussion between the allies seemed to improve after a long conversation between Mr. Erdogan and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson last month. The Turks subsequently said an agreement had been reached to evacuate SDF forces from another town, Manbij, which is predominately Arab. But Mr. Tillerson has since been dismissed, and the State Department said last week that no deal had been finalized.”
The Washington Post speculates that Erdogan (like Russia and Iran) probably wants to push the United States out of Syria entirely. The Trump administration, according to them, should reject this as American forces are necessary in the region to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State.
“Moreover, relations with Turkey cannot be mended unless Washington demands more from Mr. Erdogan. As a start, Mr. Trump should insist that Turkey release U.S. citizens it is holding as de facto hostages, and that domestic repression be relaxed. Mr. Erdogan should be pushed to reopen peace negotiations with the Kurds. If he continues on his present, reckless path, a rupture in the alliance is inevitable, sooner or later. Syria’s Kurds should not be sacrificed to prevent it.”
Another hit for democracy in South America
“After almost 20 years of trying to rebuild its democracy, Peru is still struggling to find a formula that allows an elected government to operate without corruption. A succession of presidents are fugitives or in prison. And in the latest crisis, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, after less than two years as president, was forced to resign last Wednesday, the biggest casualty to date in a seemingly endless graft scandal that has spread across Latin America,” writes Sonia Goldenberg in the New York Times.
Government officials were filmed offering the opposition bribes to avert impeachment proceedings against Kuczynski, causing an uproar. “And yet, while videos and other exposés have thrown light on the shady transactions taking place among and around Peru’s recent presidents, corruption has continued. It has become easier to oust or even jail a president than it is to clean up the country’s politics.”
The Summit of the Americas will be held in Peru in three weeks. It will be attended by all American heads of state, including Trump. The main theme of the summit if preserving democratic governance and fighting against corruption.
“But can democracy survive and succeed in defeating all-pervading political corruption? Can Peru’s democracy develop a judiciary that is strong and independent enough to tackle the problem? And if not, one might ask, why bother to hold elections that give politicians license to defraud the electorate,” Goldenberg asks.
“The struggle against corruption requires strong institutions and leadership — both lacking in Peru. Many of the decision makers with the power to reform the system have been accused of wrongdoing. Key players in the public and private sector also benefit from a corrupt system. They are the most interested in maintaining the status quo. Are they going to carry out the much-needed electoral and political reform that can end up putting them at risk of going to jail?”
Hope for Peruvian democracy rests in the new president’s hands. Martín Vizcarra will have to be steadfast in his anticorruption campaign. He might be an accidental president, Goldenberg writes, an perhaps the fact that he never wanted to be president could be his strongest political weapon.