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London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing for a heated confrontation with British lawmakers on Wednesday, after the remarkable resignation of two key ministers in his government.
The Minister of Health and Finance, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, announced their resignations by a few minutes on Tuesday evening, after they were tired of a series of scandals that rocked the government a month ago.
The two ministers will sit alongside other conservative lawmakers in the weekly impeachment session that the prime minister is subject to, which is expected to be hotter than usual.
Boris Johnson will next face the heads of the main committees in the House of Commons, some of his fiercest critics in the Conservative Party.
The two shock resignations came after the prime minister offered new apologies for an additional scandal, admitting he had made a “mistake” by appointing Chris Pincher to his cabinet last February as assistant in charge of parliamentary discipline for Conservative MPs.
He resigned last week after he was accused of molesting two men.
And on Tuesday, the prime minister admitted that the prime minister was informed in 2019 of previous accusations against Pincher, but he “forgot” them when he appointed him. And she had confirmed the opposite before.
Resignation
The resignation of Rishi Sunak, 42, came in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis in the United Kingdom. “Public opinion rightly expects the government to be led properly, competently and earnestly,” Sunak wrote in his resignation letter to Johnson. “I realize this may be my last cabinet position, but I believe these standards are worth striving for and that is why I am resigning.”
Javid, 52, who took over the finance ministry before Sunak, said the British had a right to expect “integrity from our government”.
He went on to say that the vote of confidence in Johnson in June should have been an opportunity to show “humility” and show “a new direction”. But he added, “I’m sorry to say that it is clear to me that the situation will not change under your leadership and therefore I have lost faith in you,” referring to Johnson.
Boris Johnson quickly replaced the two resigned ministers, appointing Education Minister Nadim Zahawi at the Finance Ministry and Steve Barclay at the Health Ministry, in what has so far been responsible for coordinating government affairs. But will Johnson succeed in continuing after this latest crisis, while he has so far refused to consider resigning?
issues
Johnson suffers mainly from the repercussions of the party scandal that took place at the government headquarters during the phase of complete closure during the pandemic, and he escaped weeks before a vote of no confidence decided by his Conservative Party deputies.
In addition, there are other issues of a sexual nature in Parliament. A lawmaker suspected of rape was arrested and released on bail in mid-June. Another resigned in April because he watched a porn movie in parliament on his mobile phone. A former lawmaker was sentenced in May to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenager in fifteen.
The exit of the last two deputies led to the organization of legislative by-elections, as a result of which the conservatives suffered a resounding defeat. This came as the party scored very poor results during local elections in May.
The situation raises the discontent of the British, who are facing the highest rate of inflation in forty years with 9.1% in May at an annual rate.
After an unprecedented strike of railway workers at the end of June, unions called for protest movements during the summer, while several professions of lawyers, health care workers and teachers announced or had taken action.
According to the results of an opinion poll conducted by YouGov and published on Tuesday evening, 69 percent of British voters believe that Johnson should resign. Fifty-four percent of Conservative voters believe the prime minister should leave office.