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US: President Trump on brink of impeachment as US House committee approves charges

14, December 2019

US: President Trump on brink of impeachment as US House committee approves charges 0

A badly divided House Judiciary Committee voted 23-17 along party lines to approve articles of impeachment charging President Donald Trump with both abusing the power of his office over the Ukraine scandal and obstructing House Democrats’ attempts to investigate him for it.

Trump is expected to become the third US president to be impeached when the full Democratic-led House votes on the charges, likely next week, setting up a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate. The Republicans have shown no signs of wanting to remove Trump from office.

In congressional hearings that have gripped Washington, Democrats have accused the president of endangering the US Constitution, jeopardizing national security and undermining the integrity of the 2020 election by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in a July phone call to investigate former US vice president Joe Biden, Trump’s potential Democratic opponent on voting day next November.

“Today is a solemn and sad day,” said Representative Jerrold Nadler, the committee’s Democratic chairman. “For the third time in a little over a century and a half, the House Judiciary Committee has voted articles of impeachment against the president.”

Republicans have defended Trump and accused Democrats of a politically motivated farce aimed at overturning his surprise 2016 presidential election victory.

“Impeachment is a hoax. It’s a sham,” Trump told reporters at the White House after the committee’s vote. “There was nothing done wrong. To use the power of impeachment for this nonsense is an embarrassment to this country.”

If impeached, Trump will go on trial in the Senate in January, just as the 2020 presidential campaign begins to pickup speed.

Trump has alleged that Biden, a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for president, was involved in corruption in Ukraine and should be investigated by authorities there, but the president has offered no evidence. Biden has denied any wrongdoing.

Abuse and obstruction charges

The abuse of power charge against Trump also accuses him of freezing nearly $400 million in US security aid to Ukraine and offering a possible White House meeting to Zelenskiy to get him to publicly announce investigations of Biden and his son Hunter, who was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.

Trump also asked Ukraine to investigate a debunked theory that Ukraine, not Russia, interfered in the 2016 US election.

The obstruction charge against Trump is based on his directives to current and former administration officials such as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry, even if that meant defying subpoenas.

A senior Democratic aide said the House tentatively plans to hold an impeachment debate next Wednesday ahead of a vote on whether to impeach Trump and send him for trial.

Republicans say the president did nothing improper in his call with Zelenskiy, and that there is no direct evidence he withheld aid or a White House meeting in exchange for a favor. Democrats say Trump stopped top aides from testifying.

Signaling investors’ lack of concern at the political upheaval, US stocks hit fresh record highs on Friday on optimism over a possible trade deal between China and the United States before paring gains.

As the Judiciary Committee was voting, China announced progress and said Beijing would cancel tariffs scheduled to take effect. Trump followed up by tweeting that a trade deal had been reached.

Trump is running for re-election in 2020 in what is expected to be a bitter contest with the Democratic nominee.

Senate trial would follow House vote for impeachment

No US president has been removed as a direct result of impeachment. Republican Richard Nixon resigned before he could be impeached for the Watergate scandal, and Democrats Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton were impeached by the House but not convicted by the Senate.

Twenty Republican senators would have to join all 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats to vote to oust Trump from office.

The trial would be presided over by US Chief Justice John Roberts. The length of the proceedings would depend on whether witnesses were called, a decision that is up to a majority vote in the chamber.

Trump has signaled an interest in calling many witnesses, including Biden and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, believing a big trial would be good for Republicans.

A lengthy trial would eat up weeks of time shortly before the first Democratic presidential nominating contests in Iowa and New Hampshire.

But influential Republican senators have said they want to keep any trial as short as possible.

“This needs to come to a quick end,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, a Republican who has become a staunch defender of Trump, wrote on Twitter.

Trump said on Friday he was open to either a short or long process in the Senate.

“I’ll do whatever I want … So I’ll do long or short,” he said.

“I wouldn’t mind a long process, because I’d like to see the whistleblower, who’s a fraud,” Trump said, referring to the anonymous intelligence official who set off the House impeachment investigation by raising a flag about Trump’s call with Zelenskiy in a whistleblower complaint.

Source: FRANCE 24 with AP

Cameroon Records Daily Boko Haram Attacks Along Nigeria Border

14, December 2019

Cameroon Records Daily Boko Haram Attacks Along Nigeria Border 0

Authorities in Cameroon say Boko Haram terrorists have been launching daily attacks on villages along the Nigeria border, killing at least 30 people and injuring scores in the past few months.

Cattle rancher Lamsi Guidjo, 55 years old and speaking through an interpreter, asked for temporary housing at the central Mosque in the town of Mora, on Cameroon’s northern border with Nigeria.

He said Boko Haram militants attacked his ranch in Werwack village on Tuesday and it is not safe for him to return.

Guidjo was told by villagers that Boko Haram killed five people in the attack.

Midjiyawa Bakary, governor of Cameroon's far north region, presides over a security meeting in Maroua, Dec. 11, 2019. (Moki Edwin Kindzeka/VOA)
Midjiyawa Bakary, governor of Cameroon’s far north region, presides over a security meeting

The governor of Cameroon’s far north region, Midjiyawa Bakary, said the attack on Werwack was just one among a hundred they have recorded in the past three months.  

At a high-level security meeting Wednesday in the city of Maroua, Bakary said the Boko Haram attacks left at least 30 people dead in villages around Mora, Tokombere, Limani, Kolofata and Ashigachia. Participants at the meeting recommended that traditional rulers, the clergy and civilians work with the military to help reduce the attacks.

Boko Haram fighters usually step up their attacks at the end of the year when cross-border traffic between Nigeria and Cameroon increases so they can steal supplies, Bakary said.

But Theress Doudou, a 26-year-old teacher at the Mora government school, blames the attacks on the absence of Cameroon military in the villages. She said the troops left just months ago, claiming they were no longer needed because peace had returned.

Swaibou Issa, a researcher on Boko Haram at the University of Maroua, said Boko Haram’s firepower has only been weakened but its fighters are still a threat along the border.

“The engagement, the commitment of our political authorities is clearly defined that no matter the cost, they want peace,” Issa said. “It is their duty to protect civilian populations, it is their duty to fight those who are not willing to go for peace. The two processes always go together in a war.”

Boko Haram terrorists have been fighting for a decade to establish an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria’s northeast, and began attacks inside Cameroon in 2014.

The Islamist insurgents have killed more than 27,000 people and displaced 1.8 million since 2009.

Source: VOA
 

Yaounde: French Cameroun MPs grant Southern Cameroons special status

14, December 2019

Yaounde: French Cameroun MPs grant Southern Cameroons special status 0

Lawmakers in Cameroon are debating a bill that seeks to grant more autonomy to the troubled Anglophone regions.

The recent development comes more than two months after the Grand National Dialogue called by government which took place in the capital, Yaoundé.

Parts of the new law adopted earlier this week stipulates that court decisions can be rendered “in any of the official languages, depending on the choice of the litigant and the understanding of all present in court.”

Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions have been experiencing a civil conflict since 2016, when protesters and security forces clashed.

The demonstrations were initially over the use of French in the English majority regions, it started from teachers and lawyers marching the streets with branches of trees.

But the relating security crackdown led to a spiral in the demands as a group of activists declared a security-political push to secede from Cameroon.

People in the twin regions have long hoped for a return to peace. Hundreds of people have died in the clashes between secessionists and government forces. Thousands have also been displaced by the violence.

President Paul Biya recently brought up the issue of granting special status to the regions as part of efforts to end the crisis.

Source: Africa News

9 US Lawmakers call on Biya to address the deteriorating situation in Southern Cameroons

14, December 2019

9 US Lawmakers call on Biya to address the deteriorating situation in Southern Cameroons 0

A group of 9 members of the United States Congress have called on French Cameroun head of state, Paul Biya to demonstrate leadership in resolving the prolonged conflict in Southern Cameroons. In a letter written by Representatives Karen Bass, Christopher H. Smith, Ron Kind, F. James Sensenbrenner Jr, James P McGovern, David M. Cicilline, IIhan Omar, Ron Wrigh, and Tim Walberg, the US lawmakers called on Biya to implement a comprehensive strategy that addresses the killings currently going in Southern Cameroons.

“The situation is not getting better, as your government asserts: it is getting worse. According to the United Nations, as of November 2019, more than 2,000 people have died, as many as 71 0,000 people have been internally displaced, and 44,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria due to the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest. Roughly 2.6 million people in these areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 855,000 children, the majority of whom are internally displaced, do not have access to education. Your lasting legacy as President of the Republic of Cameroon also depends on this commitment” the lawmakers wrote.

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

His Excellency Paul Biya President of the Republic of Cameroon

Unity Palace, Etoudi

P.O. Box 100 Yaoundé

Republic of Cameroon

Dear President Biya,

As members of the U.S. Congress, we are writing to express our deep concern over the ongoing insecurity and violence in the predominantly Anglophone Northwest and Southwest Regions of Cameroon. Conflict between your security forces and non-state armed groups has led to an ever increasing number of casualties and of internally displaced persons and refugees, and has kept hundreds of thousands of children out of school for going on a third year in a row. These factors are having devastating social, political, and economic impacts on the regions, on the country itself, and more broadly in Central and West Africa.

The situation is not getting better, as your government asserts: it is getting worse. According to the United Nations, as of November 2019, more than 2,000 people have died, as many as 71 0,000 people have been internally displaced, and 44,000 refugees have fled to neighboring Nigeria due to the ongoing conflict in the Northwest and Southwest. Roughly 2.6 million people in these areas are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, and more than 855,000 children, the majority of whom are internally displaced, do not have access to education. Ongoing insecurity and violence in the Northwest and Southwest have had a ruinous effect on the economy as documented by Cameroon’s leading employers’ confederation, the Groupement Inter-Patronal dii Cameroun. GICAM noted that Ghost Towns effectively shut down economic activity for 30.6 percent of the time in the past two and a half years and that the situation is getting worse. The conflict has severely hurt the timber, agro-industry, cocoa, energy, telecommunications, tourism, and transport sectors.

Given the failure of various internal initiatives to halt the crisis and bring peace to these regions of Cameroon, the government of Cameroon should demonstrate political will by engaging in the Swiss-led facilitation process, which could lead to future negotiations between the Cameroonian government and the opposition in the Northwest and Southwest, as well as the diaspora. A process of inclusive negotiation and institutional reforms would lead to greater power-sharing and decision-making, facilitate peace, and save Cameroonian lives. Children, particularly in rural areas of the Northwest and Southwest, need to resume their education, but that is not going to happen until there is a resolution of the conflict. We know you value education: the conflict in the Northwest and Southwest, if left unchecked, could very well lead to a generation of unskilled and underdeveloped people who are prone to unemployment, and prone to violent extremism and criminality. A peaceful and inclusive resolution of the crisis would strengthen bilateral ties and lead to greater trade and investment between our two countries.

Military action cannot solve this conflict. We understand that non-state armed groups are responsible for horrific acts of violence and we condemn those acts in the strongest terms. But a broad spectrum of international and domestic experts disagree with the Cameroonian government’s assertion that non-state armed groups are responsible for most of the violence: on the contrary, there is consistent and convincing evidence from a variety of unbiased and independent sources that Cameroonian security forces are responsible for the majority of killings of unarmed Cameroonian citizens and destruction of property including the burning of homes. There is evidence of soldiers dragging wounded people out of hospitals and their lifeless bodies found abandoned later. Soldiers have raped women, either for opportunistic or punitive reasons.

Promises for national dialogue have been made by the government, and some positive gestures have been carried out including the release of 333 lower level Anglophone prisoners and 225 political prisoners including Cameroon Renaissance Movement leader Maurice Kamto. There is evidence that government officials at the sub-Divisional Officer level deliberately misused their positions to prevent opposition candidates from registering and the government has blocked attempts of opposition parties to organize and hold rallies on spurious security grounds while allowing the ruling party to celebrate openly and lavishly the anniversary of your rule. Some opposition parties have voiced skepticism that the government and the national elections body ELECAM will be able to conduct February 9 municipal and legislative assembly elections in the Northwest and Southwest.

If there is not a durable ceasefire in the Northwest and Southwest, February elections, let alone plans for bilingualism, decentralization, DDR, reconstruction, and resumption of education are unlikely to succeed. A process of inclusive negotiations and a genuine commitment to establish peace is a necessary condition for all of the good suggestions from the national dialogue to move forward.

Many of us in congress are currently assessing U.S. policy toward Cameroon. As you know, the United States recently terminated the designation of Cameroon as a beneficiary sub-Saharan African country under the African Growth and Opportunity Act because the Government of Cameroon engages in gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. This follows the U.S. decision in February of this year to scale back military assistance to Cameroon, also because of human rights violations. Further considerations regarding U.S.-Cameroonian relations will depend on your commitment to engage in sincere dialogue. Only sincere dialogue can lead to an end to the violence and insecurity in the Northwest and Southwest, allowing people to return and rebuild their homes, children to return to school, and economic activity to resume safely.

 Your lasting legacy as President of the Republic of Cameroon also depends on this commitment.

Sign: Hon. Karen Bass, Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Hon. Ron Kind, Hon. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr, Hon. James P McGovern, Hon. David M. Cicilline, Hon. IIhan Omar, Hon. Ron Wrigh, Hon. Tim Walberg

Yaounde lays cornerstone for Chinese-aid new parliament building

13, December 2019

Yaounde lays cornerstone for Chinese-aid new parliament building 0

Cameroon’s House Speaker of National Assembly Cavaye Yeguie Djibril on Thursday laid the cornerstone for a new Chinese-funded parliamentary complex.

The new building will improve the working conditions of lawmakers and strengthen China-Cameroon relations, Djibril said here at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“The new architectural jewel will contribute to the beautification of the capital … This, once again, demonstrates the excellent relationship existing between our two countries,” he said.

“We thank the Chinese government for their continued support of our various developmental programmes,” he added.

Chinese Ambassador to Cameroon Wang Yingwu said at the ceremony that the construction of the new building was a reflection of the “rich and dynamic” relation between the two countries.

China will continue to support Cameroon in its quest for peace and development, Wang added.

The construction project came two years after a fire ravaged part of the parliament building in November 2017.

Source: Xinhuanet

Bishop of Bafang condemns deteriorating human rights situation in Cameroon

13, December 2019

Bishop of Bafang condemns deteriorating human rights situation in Cameroon 0

Cameroon’s leading prelate has condemned the “deteriorating” human rights situation in the African country.

Speaking during a Dec. 10 workshop on the state of human rights in Cameroon, Bishop Abraham Kome of Bafang, the president of the bishops’ conference, said freedom of political expression has been significantly limited.

“We have seen the difficulty with which political parties have to manifest. We see – and I say this with a lot of emotion – when we visit our country’s prisons, what we see there is poor infrastructure, poor treatment of inmates, and overcrowding in prison cells. When one sees that, one can only affirm, if one has to speak the truth, that human rights have deteriorated in our country,” he said.

The bishop’s comments came just days after the country’s National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms published its 2018 human rights report in Cameroon.

The report documented arbitrary killings, forced disappearances, and a crackdown on political freedom; as well as noting the limited access to justice for aggrieved persons.

Currently, the government is fighting two major internal conflicts: The first against separatists in the country’s Anglophone regions, and the second against Boko Haram militants in the north.

The report said that in these regions, human rights have been grossly violated, both by insurgents and the country’s military.

“The climate of insecurity degenerated into allegations of violations of the right to life and to physical and moral integrity of persons and property; violations of the right to education, health, private property and access to administrative services and to a fair trial of suspects and the deplorable detention conditions,” the report states.

It further indicated that between January and December 2018, “close to 200 civilians were killed by separatists and government soldiers in the Anglophone regions alone.”

The war that started in 2016 as a protest by Anglophone lawyers and teachers over attempts to destroy the education and common law systems practiced in English speaking regions quickly degenerated into an armed rebellion with many English speakers demanding for outright independence.

The Chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights and Freedoms, Chemuta Divine Banda, said Cameroon’s separatist war was fast becoming an enterprise, “with war lords stepping into the picture to make benefits through kidnappings and ransom taking.”

“There are people who don’t want this conflict to end,” he told Crux.

The report speaks broadly about poor prison conditions, limited access to justice for accused persons, the torching of schools that has forced about 800,000 children out of education, as well as attempts by the government to limit access to freedom of speech and assembly.

The country has come under increasing scrutiny by the international community, with Human Rights Watch stating in its 2018 report that in its fight against separatists in the country’s English speaking North West and South West regions, “government security forces have committed extrajudicial executions, burned property, carried out arbitrary arrests, and tortured detainees.”

Even the Trump administration has weighed in with a damning report on Cameroon’s human rights record.

Electoral code can’t guarantee free and fair elections

In his remarks, Kome also took aim at Cameroon’s electoral code with just weeks until the next legislative and municipal elections in Cameroon and called for its revision.

“The electoral code does not guarantee the transparency and authenticity of electoral results,” the bishop said.

Kome said a revision of the code was needed to “guarantee the peoples’ human right to freely choose the leaders they want.”

The opposition has consistently called for the introduction of a single ballot, the redistribution of electoral constituencies, as well as the complete computerization of the electoral process.

The secretary general of the opposition Social Democratic Front said his party will introduce legislation on the revision of the electoral code during the ongoing parliamentary session. It’s a similar stance taken by the party of Maurice Kamto who claims he won the last presidential election in Cameroon.

Cameroonians will go to the polls February 9 to elect municipal offices and members of the national legislature, but some observers say that election could be a recipe for violence especially in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions.

Source: Crux

Football: Jurgen Klopp agrees new deal with Liverpool until 2024

13, December 2019

Football: Jurgen Klopp agrees new deal with Liverpool until 2024 0

Jurgen Klopp has agreed a contract extension with Liverpool until 2024, the Premier League leaders announced on Friday.

Klopp, who moved to Anfield in 2015, guided Liverpool to Champions League glory in June and they are currently eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

“For me personally this is a statement of intent, one which is built on my knowledge of what we as a partnership have achieved so far and what is still there for us to achieve,” the 52-year-old Klopp said in a statement on Liverpool’s official website.

“When I see the development of the club and the collaborative work that continues to take place, I feel my contribution can only grow.”

During his first campaign at Anfield, Liverpool reached the finals of both the League Cup and Europa League but lost both.

They lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in the 2018 Champions League final but regrouped and became European champions for a sixth time after a 2-0 win against Tottenham in Madrid this year.

Liverpool lost just one match in the Premier League last season, racking up 97 points — the best in the club’s history — but missed out on the title by a solitary point to Manchester City.

So far this season, Klopp has overseen Liverpool’s surge to the top of the Premier League, where they currently sit eight points clear after 15 wins from their opening 16 matches.

They have not won the English top-flight title since 1990.

Source; AFP

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Can the political madness be cured?

13, December 2019

Southern Cameroons Crisis: Can the political madness be cured? 0

Over the last two weeks, a lot has been happening in Yaoundé. The pressure from the United Nations and the United States has triggered a flurry of activities in the nation’s capital and despite their best efforts, the ruling CPDM, popularly known as the crime syndicate that has been made of the mold as the Sicilian Mafia, has been working hard to foster its negative ideas that have put the country in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The immediate cause of the Southern Cameroons crisis was the use of French in Southern Cameroonian schools and courts, and for three years now, the protest that was started by lawyers and teachers has actually morphed into a full blown civil war that has already consumed more than 5,000 lives, including some 2,000 army soldiers.

In normal circumstances, the effort would be to appease the English-speaking minority with a view to restoring peace, but Cameroon’s authorities are hell-bent on seeing more blood flood the streets of Southern Cameroons.

Soldiers have been on their regular killing spree. Killing has become their stock in trade and over the last weeks, more than 100 Southern Cameroonians have been killed by trigger-happy, sex-starved and alcohol-inflamed soldiers sent by the Minister of Defense, Joseph Beti Assomo, to kill as many Southern Cameroonians as possible before Americans and the United Nations come in.

In Mankon, in the North West Region, a small family was put through excruciating pain a few days agao when two brothers were pulled out of their house and shot point blank by army soldiers. The soldiers walked away as if nothing had happened. They have become inured to killing to the point where human life has no meaning to them.

In Bamanda, the North-west regional capital, an American working for the United Nations and who has elected anonymity, has reported that a deaf man was killed in cold-blood when soldiers on their way to a killing site saw a deaf Southern Cameroonian wearing hearing aid which they mistook for espionage equipment.

They tore down the hearing aid, making it impossible for the deaf man to even understand them and, of course, they were speaking in a foreign language. When they started raining questions on him, he could not hear, so he could not answer any of their questions. The soldiers beat the living day light out of the deaf man and lodged a few bullets into his chest.

In their view, the deaf man was spying for the Southern Cameroonian fighters who have given government troops a run for their money. This has become a daily show in most of Southern Cameroons.

In Mutengene, a small vibrant town some 4 miles from the Southwestern regional capital, Buea, soldiers loyal to the country’s president, Paul Biya, pulled out four able-bodied young men from their home and sent them to an early grave.

Killing innocent civilians is now a sport in Southern Cameroons and this has only radicalized many people in the two English-speaking regions, with the Diaspora delivering much-needed financial and military assistance for the civilians to defend themselves.

This self-defense initiative has in three years sent some 2,000 army soldiers to the world beyond and this is not fazing the government which sees military violence as the only solution even after three years of fighting with no significant results.

The latest killing of soldiers occurred yesterday, December 12, 2019 in Widikum in the Northwest region where three Special Forces were ambushed and killed. Seven others had fallen a day before in the Northwest region and one would think such unfortunate situations will cause a change in the government’s strategy, especially as the international community is breathing heavily down its neck.

The Biya government seems to be intent on destroying the country before it ever leaves and each of its actions only makes secession possible. The Parliament is seriously supporting the executive branch of government by passing into law bills that will only push Southern Cameroonians further away from East Cameroon.

Today, it is possible for Francophone magistrates to try Southern Cameroonians in a language many Southern Cameroonians deem foreign. This was one of the triggers of the conflict and the government has decided to pour more gasoline into a burning house.

Southern Cameroonian lawyers are against that and they have clearly articulated their disagreement in a letter to the justice minister, Laurent Esso, himself one of the architects and enablers of the crisis that has pushed the country’s economy further into the abyss.

But one question remains. Can Francophone magistrates be that bold to sit in courts in Southern Cameroons when many armed groups are kidnapping and killing government officials in the two English-speaking regions of the country?

With insecurity attaining unprecedented levels in that part of the country, won’t it preposterous for a Francophone magistrate to accept to play such a role in an environment where there are more guns than bread?

Due to the government’s indifference to the plight of the people, Southern Cameroonians now see security forces more as enemies than friends, making it hard for them to help security forces in their search for civilian criminals, as there are also military criminals.

A source in Kumba has lamented that both the military and criminal elements who pass off as Amba boys are now threatening young girls that their entire families will be killed if they do not come to specific locations to have sex with them.

The young women who are in their early 20s actually have no options and they have been yielding to this pressure. Many have been infected with HIV and thousands have been impregnated by these criminal elements who have made life unbearable to the local population.

The people are helpless. The government’s recklessness is not helping matters. Its indifference and military violence are only making things worse. Young women are paying a huge price for a situation they have never bargained for.

The madness is spreading very fast and it will soon become a way of life if the government does not change its ways. The government might be playing games. It might think it is scoring some points, but it is the future of the country and that of its young men and women that are being ruined by a government run by a bunch of old people. The old people are simply a wet blanket over the country and until they are taken out of the system, Cameroon will never be one and indivisible.

The madness looks really serious and there are questions as to whether it can be cured. Of course, it is curable and it is up to Cameroonians, especially those in East Cameroon whose lack of courage has emboldened the government in its tragic-comedy that is keeping the international community awake all night.

By Dr Joachim Arrey

UK Elections: Scotland will now set the wheels in motion for a second independence referendum

13, December 2019

UK Elections: Scotland will now set the wheels in motion for a second independence referendum 0

The Scottish National Party has enjoyed a landslide victory north of the border, and sent a clear message to Westminster that Scotland will now set the wheels in motion for a second independence referendum from the UK.

The SNP clinched 13 extra seats in Scotland compared to its 2017 election campaign, and after the 59 constituency results were announced, the SNP now holds 48, with the Tories coming in second with 6, down 7, the Liberal Democrats third with 4, and a disappointing 1 seat by the Labour party who lost 6 seats in a disastrous campaign.

One of the most significant victories by the SNP was the ousting of Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrats party leader from her Dunbartonshire East seat.  The Liberal Democrats who campaigned to keep the UK in the European Union share the ideology with the SNP, and as SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon stated after the election on the Tory victory, ‘Boris Johnson has a mandate to take England out of the European Union. But he emphatically does not have a mandate to take Scotland out of the European Union’.

She further went on to state, ‘if he’s going to claim a mandate for Brexit, he cannot deny the mandate that the SNP has to offer people in Scotland the choice of something different’.

The SNP’s 48 seats in Westminster now makes the party the third largest in parliament, and although Johnson has clearly sealed the largest Tory majority since the Thatcher era, the debate will now spark as to whether Johnson will listen to the voices of Scotland, who in 2014 voted to stay within the United Kingdom as it was part of the European Union, however, with Brexit now a formality, will Johnson abuse his majority power and swipe the SNP voice under the table, or will Sturgeon use the momentum to bring Scotland out of the UK, and into Europe as an Independent nation state?

With Northern Ireland seemingly now being handed to the Republic of Ireland on a plate with the partition in the Irish Sea as part of Johnson’s new deal with the EU, and Scotland now also on the brink of IndyRef 2, could we now be witnessing the end of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and could the famous British divide and rule ideology now be returning to bite its own master on the rear?

Culled from Presstv

UK: Prime Minister Johnson wins parliamentary majority, Corbyn to stand down

13, December 2019

UK: Prime Minister Johnson wins parliamentary majority, Corbyn to stand down 0

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says his government has got a “powerful new mandate” to deliver Brexit as his ruling Conservative Party won a huge majority in the parliamentary election, according to exit polls.

An exit poll and early results suggested that Johnson’s party is set to gain 368 seats, 42 above the 326 needed for an absolute majority in the House of Commons.

With 595 of parliament’s 650 seats declared, the Conservatives have won 326, according to a tally of seats won so far by broadcaster ITV.

The prime minister, who will remain in power, arrived at the party headquarters on Friday, saying, “This One Nation Conservative government has been given a powerful new mandate to get Brexit done, unite this country and move it forward.”

‘Brexit on Jan. 31st, no ifs, no buts’

“We will get Brexit done on time by the 31st of January, no ifs, no buts, no maybes,” Johnson told cheering supporters later.

Johnson had called for the general election in order to break a deadlock in parliament, which had blocked the country’s withdrawal from the European Union, more than three and a half years after the Brexit referendum in 2016.

The victory, the biggest majority for a Conservative government in more than three decades, will now pave the way for the government to deliver Brexit in January next year.

Corbyn to stand down after ‘disappointing’ loss

That, however, leaves the traditional opposition Labour party with about 190 seats —the worst electoral defeat in 84 years.

The party, which has lost seats in the areas which backed Brexit, is set to win 65 fewer seats than in 2017, according to early results.

Labour party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who had promised a second Brexit referendum, said he would stand down, though he did not set a date for his departure.

“I will not lead the party in any future general election campaign,” Corbyn said, describing the election results as “very disappointing.”

“I will discuss with our party and ensure there is now a process of reflection on this result and the policies that the party will take going forward,” he added.

Critics blamed Corbyn for the loss, saying many voters had cited their dislike for him on doorsteps across the country.

“Corbyn was a disaster on the doorstep … everyone knew he couldn’t lead the working class out of a paper bag,” said Alan Johnson, a former senior minister.

A party needs to secure more than 320 seats to have a majority in the House of Commons, in order to pass legislation.

The centrist Liberal Democrats were predicted to win 13 seats, the Brexit Party none and the Scottish National Party 55 seats.

EU’s reaction

The election — the UK’s third general election in less than five years — was dominated by Johnson’s call for getting “Brexit done.”  He is now expected to bring forward his Brexit legislation before Christmas.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said on Friday the results meant Brexit would now materialize and that time was short to seal a new relationship deal between the EU and Britain.

“It is a very clear result – it will not change by tomorrow morning,” Lofven told reporters on leaving an EU summit in Brussels that Johnson skipped.

“(It) means that we will move forward with our separation… we now have 11 months to hash out a deal. It’s a very short time.”

Johnson’s deal for a withdrawal from the European Union has been agreed to in principle by the Parliament but is yet to be fully ratified by lawmakers.

Some in the government say Johnson will use his clear victory to push for a closer economic partnership with the bloc to protect manufacturing jobs.

If the deal fails once again, the plan is to leave the transition stage without a deal, as had been declared in the manifesto before the election.

Others, however, say the prime minister might also undertake a U-turn and extend the transition period beyond December 2020. Johnson has insisted he is able to negotiate a post-Brexit trade deal with the union without the need to extend the transition period beyond the end of 2020.

Trump overjoyed

In a reaction to early results, US President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday, saying, “Looking like a big win for Boris in election”.

Trump had formerly called on Johnson to leave the European Union without a deal if he can’t get better terms from EU leaders.

The European council president, Charles Michel, said earlier that EU leaders would discuss the results of the election on Friday, but that there was “a strong message” coming from Britain.

“We will see if it’s possible for the British parliament to accept the withdrawal agreement to take a decision, and if it is the case, we are ready for the next steps,” he said.

Source: Presstv

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