The Nightmare (Election) Before Christmas

Prime Minster Boris Johnson faced another frenzied week around Brexit as EU leaders reluctantly considered his reluctant request for an extension and Parliament considered the latest Brexit bill. All while the current 31 October deadline for the UK’s departure loomed in the background.

The first vote on Johnson’s withdrawal bill passed by 329 to 299, however, he failed to get MPs’ approval for the timetable that would have been needed to allow it to pass through the Commons within the same week. Johnson lost this accelerated timetable vote by 308 to 322. Basically, lawmakers agreed to the Brexit plan in principle, but wanted more time to read it. Despite Johnson remaining adamant that he didn’t want a delay, EU leaders have agreed that a delay is possible – though they won’t make a decision on a new deadline date until next week.

In light of these events, Johnson has given Parliament an ultimatum: “get Brexit done” by the end of the month or schedule another general election. He announced that he will be asking members of Parliament this coming Monday to agree to hold an election on 12 December. The Labour Party has whilst it supports having an election, it will not vote for one until the possibility of a no deal Brexit is ruled out.

This coming week is set up to be one of the most dramatic yet in the story of Brexit, with a vote on a proposed general election, the EU providing yet another extension date, and the population of the UK having to once again hold their breaths as they wait to see if 31 October truly will be the day that the UK leaves the EU.

 

Abortion and same-sex marriage legalised in NI

It was a historic week for Northern Ireland as equal marriage and reproductive rights were legalised after the deadline to resume a power-sharing Executive at Stormont passed, triggering the change in law.

The Northern Ireland Assembly did sit for the first time since January 2017 after the DUP’s 28 MLAs, plus individual MLAs from the UUP, TUV and SDLP put their names to a petition recalling members to discuss the Westminster’s legalisation that would bring abortion and equal marriage into effect. Sinn Féin, Alliance, the Green Party and People Before Profit boycotted the event, accusing those who sat of staging a political “stunt.” The last ditch attempt at Stormont to stop the law from changing ultimately failed, becoming impossible when SDLP MLAs left the chamber and a speaker could not be elected with cross-community backing.

In the current interim period from now until March 2020, women from Northern Ireland seeking abortion will continue to travel to England. Those who seek terminations will no longer be afraid of being prosecuted for their actions, with the possibility of prosecution also being lifted from healthcare workers. The first same-sex marriage ceremonies are due to take place on 14 February 2020, while the government has until the end of March to come up with regulations for the provision of abortion services.

 

Canada’s first black-face Prime Minister elected

Justin Trudeau won a second term as Canadian Prime Minister, with his rival, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, narrowly winning the popular vote. Scheer and Trudeau had been deadlocked in the polls during the six-week election campaign.

Trudeau’s Liberal Party now faces the challenge of forming a government with the support of smaller parties such as the left-wing New Democratic Party on a vote-by-vote basis, having lost its majority in the House of Commons. However, Trudeau’s victory has been viewed as a personal vindication for the leader by some, who has faced questions against his character after he was accused of bullying his former attorney general over SNC-Lavalin and faced revelations that he had dressed in black face multiple times as a young man. Trudeau has apologised for the blackface incidents, but has claimed that the SNC-Lavalin case was simply an example of him trying to save Canadian jobs.

Trudeau’s party faces new problems as a minority government going forward, as historically minority governments in Canada tend to last only about two years, instead of four. The New Democratic Party’s leader Jagmeet Singh has already set out his party’s list of priorities in a minority situation, vowing that his party will play a “positive role” in Ottawa.

 

Unrest in Chile

The Chilean government extended its curfew across ten cities after protests left at least eight people dead last weekend. Over 10,500 police officers were also stationed in the country’s capital, Santiago to handle arson and other violent clashes that have occurred.

The unrest in Chile began after the government announced that it would be raising public transportation fares by 4 percent, leading high school students to jump turnstiles and ultimately leading to the closure to several metro stations in Santiago. This proved to be the straw that broke the camel’s back and led to protestors taking to the streets over wealth inequality and corruption. Many working class Chileans stated that they were fed up with the rising cost of utilities, falling wages and the rising cost of education and healthcare. President Sebastian Pinera declared a state of emergency, imposed curfews and ordered the armed forced to restore order.

At least 15 people have been killed and 2,600 arrested during the protests, with Chile’s military promising to investigate allegations of human rights violations in connection with the protests. The UN high commission on human rights is also sending a team to Chile to investigate allegations of human rights abuses against demonstrators. The government estimates that the protests have done $200 million in damage.

Sebastian Pinera has now dismissed his whole cabinet in order to form a new government and introduce social reforms demanded by protestors, having previously announced a package of reforms aimed at ending the protests. Socialist Oscar Lanerretche has stated that Pinera’s offer represented “an enormous victory for our citizens.” Whether or not these reforms will be accepted by the protestors is yet to be seen.

 

Third Time’s a Charm for Israel?

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave his rival, leader of the Blue and White Party Benny Gantz, the task of forming a government in Jerusalem’s Knesset amid President Reuven Rivlin’s calls for compromise. Gantz has promised to form a more secular unity government than Netanyahu’s Likud Party rivals – although it is not clear whether that is possible.

Netanyahu blamed his failure to form a government on Gantz’s refusal to enter into a coalition with his right-wing Likud party, stating that he made “every effort” to form a government with the Blue and White party. This is the first time in more than a decade that someone other than Netanyahu has a chance to lead the government in Israel.

President Rivlin has granted Gantz 28 days to form a government following Netanyahu’s failure to form a coalition with a majority after September’s election ended in deadlock. Gantz currently remains short of the 61 seats he would need for a majority, making many fear that Israel might be heading to its third election in twelve months. President Rivlin has pledged to do all that he can to avoid a third election. If Gantz fails, Parliament could be put to a third candidate in order to avoid another poll. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is currently facing possible indictment on criminal charges, with an indictment decision expected by mid-December at the latest.