On his first day in office, US President Joe Biden signed 17 executive orders. These orders included: the imposition of a mask mandate on federal property, re-entering US back into the Paris climate agreement, halting funding for the construction of the Trump wall and halting the US' withdrawal from the World Health Organisation.
Later, he signed three more, reversing Donald Trump's travel bans on individuals from Muslim-majority countries, undoing the harsh immigration policies for border crossing, and establishing a family reunification task force.
Do other world leaders act similarly?
Here are some more controversial orders issued by five world leaders in the last five years.
Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau announced in 2020 a ban on all assault-style firearms, prohibiting such firearms and its components from being used, sold or imported. The announcement took place two weeks after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia that claimed the lives of 22 people.
In a move that shocked the entire country, in 2016 Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave only four hours’ notice that 1,000 and 500 rupee notes would no longer be valid. The goal of this bold demonetisation was to drive out black money from the market, and the effectiveness of this move is yet to be seen.
In 2020, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte publicly ordered customs officials to “shoot and kill” drug smugglers in a televised cabinet meeting on the Coronavirus. This was one of his more overt threats of violence in his four-year anti-drug campaign.
Also, after disturbances and protests in a poor area of Manila over government food aid, President Duterte issued violent threats against those who violate COVID-19 lockdown measures, ordering the military and police to shoot these violators dead.
Just last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered amendments to be made to the Russian Constitution that would allow him to run for another two 6-year terms, outlaw same-sex marriages and reassert the primacy of Russian laws over international ones.
In October last year, Thai Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha declared a state of emergency in Bangkok under the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic. This allowed authorities to curb and suppress anti-government sentiments and protests.
In an attempt to further curb the pro-democracy protests, the Thai authorities issued an indefinite ban on gatherings of more than five people. Another ban was also issued on news or online messages that could “create fear”.
(Photo credit: Lisa Ferdinando, DoD)