Achi news desk-
Glasgow, Scotland – Humza Yousaf has resigned as Scotland’s first minister after the collapse of his power-sharing government last week prompted opposition parties in the devolved Scottish Parliament to table two confidence votes – one in him and one in his administration.
Yousaf resigned on Monday after becoming the first Muslim head of government in any Western democracy when he took up the posts of prime minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) in March 2023. He secured Scotland’s top job after the shock resignation of his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.
Sturgeon turned the SNP into an election winning machine at the level of the Scottish Parliament and Westminster in London during her eight years and four months as party leader and prime minister.
But after the British government repeatedly refused to facilitate her calls for a second referendum on Scottish independence and after long facing a series of personal and political obstacles, Sturgeon eventually fell on her sword after claiming that her years as Scotland’s most powerful politician have taken. its toll.
Yousaf, a Sturgeon loyalist who won the Scottish top job after defeating two party colleagues in an SNP leadership race, took up his post as head of a power-sharing government after Sturgeon’s deal with the Scottish Green Party in August 2021 led to a parliament SNP-Green. majority.
But Yousaf’s decision to end the alliance on Thursday – which came after the Green Party called an emergency vote on whether to continue with the deal after it was angered by the SNP’s decision to abandon a target Scotland’s “world-leading” carbon emissions – shocking cap. premier league.
Analysts said it was in jeopardy from the start.
“He’s had a lot of bad luck,” said Scottish political commentator Simon Pia, referring to the current police investigation into allegations of financial misconduct by the SNP during Sturgeon’s premiership, which led to Peter Murrell, Sturgeon’s husband and former premier party activist, was charged with theft this month.
Pia, who is a former Labor press adviser in the Scottish Parliament, said Yousaf at 39 did not have “the political ability” to cope with the ups and downs of the high office.
Indeed, during his resignation speech at Bute House, the Scottish prime minister’s official residence in Edinburgh, Yousaf admitted that he “clearly underestimated the level of hurt and distress I caused Green’s colleagues” who, after his decision to remove the emissions arrangement, declare their intention to vote against it in a motion of confidence.
‘Leader of lame ducks’
Political analyst Gerry Hassan, author of Scotland Rising: The Case for Independence, said Yousaf’s resignation was a reflection of the SNP’s current downward trajectory as a political force after its first victory in the Scottish Parliament elections in 2007 and its role in Scottish independence into the country. mainstream politics (despite losing 55-45 per cent in a vote on Scottish statehood in a referendum in 2014).
“The basic reality is that leaders come and go, and political fortunes go up and down,” Hassan told Al Jazeera about the SNP’s political history, which has seen the party win four consecutive Scottish Parliament elections and three in a row across Scotland. Westminster elections.
“Yousaf was a lame duck leader from the moment he was elected, and there is wear and tear [the SNP’s] 17 years in the job [at the Scottish Parliament]. The SNP have defied political seriousness for so long, but they were never going to defy it forever.”
While support for Scottish independence remains high around the 50 per cent mark, Sturgeon’s links to the SNP’s financial woes and her bitter feud with Alex Salmond, her predecessor as SNP prime minister, have combined with the party’s problems on the domestic front to create a perfect situation. a storm of political upheaval.
One of Yousaf’s many political challenges came in the form of Scotland’s Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which became law on April 1.
The law was established to give greater protection to victims, but the prime minister came under fierce attack from some who claimed that those who were critical of the trans rights movement would be punished for expressing their views.
A likely candidate to replace Yousaf is Kate Forbes, 34, the socially conservative former SNP finance secretary who came second to the outgoing SNP leader in last year’s contest.
John Swinney, who served as the SNP’s deputy foreign secretary but stood down in 2023 when Sturgeon quit, told Sky News on Monday he was considering running.
But with opinion polls suggesting the SNP is losing ground at the level of the Scottish Parliament and Westminster, “the next leader of the SNP will inherit an extremely difficult set of problems”, says James Mitchell, a professor at the University’s School of Social and Political Sciences. Edinburgh. .
“The party has been on a gradual but accelerated decline through failure to move on from the independence referendum,” Mitchell told Al Jazeera.
“It has not succeeded in resurrecting a reputation for competent governance. It is clear that another independence referendum is off the agenda and there is now momentum with Scottish Labour. Unless the new leader can achieve much more than Yousaf or Sturgeon, then the immediate future looks bleak.”
Ad blocking test (Why?)
Source link
The ‘lame duck leader’ job: Scotland’s Humza Yousaf quits. What’s next? – Al Jazeera English appeared first on Canada News Media.
