You can now follow the latest news for free through our Instagram account
Click here to subscribe
London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is facing a “rebellion” within his government and the Conservative Party, continues to hold on to power Thursday, a day after a series of resignations and many calls for him to step down.
The newspaper “The Times” headlined on its front page, “Johnson is struggling to survive,” summarizing the feeling of the British press, after the “Daily Telegraph” described what is happening as a “rebellion” in the government, which, within two days, led to the resignation of dozens of ministers and advisers.
The wave of resignations began on Tuesday evening when the Minister of Health and Finance, Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak, announced their resignations from the government without prior notice, followed by other lower-ranking members of the government.
On Wednesday evening, the number of departures reached about forty, including the Minister in charge of Welsh Affairs Simon Hart.
Boris Johnson is mired in several scandals and is accused of lying repeatedly, but he has ignored all calls for his resignation, some of which were issued by those close to him, sacking on Wednesday evening Michael Gove, Minister of Housing Affairs, who earlier appealed to him to resign.
British media reported that ministers from the first row also demanded his resignation due to the difficult situation. Among the names mentioned are the Minister of Interior Priti Patel and Nazem Al-Zahawi, less than 24 hours after his appointment as Minister of Finance.
Johnson responded to ministers and MPs that he would remain in office to devote his time to “the very big problems” facing the country, according to newspapers.
“We will continue with the government of this country,” said the prime minister, on Wednesday afternoon, before the heads of parliamentary committees, after saying a little earlier that he was having a “wonderful” week.
Boris Johnson said in an enthusiastic tone that he “would not take responsibility” for leaving power in the current circumstances with the cost of living crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Prior to that, during the weekly questioning session in front of the deputies, which was interspersed with laughter and sarcasm, he stressed that the “enormous mandate” given to him by voters in 2019 imposes on him the duty to “continue”.
The leader of the Labor opposition, Keir Starmer, criticized this “crying scene”, while the leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons, Ian Blackford, called for early elections. However, Boris Johnson ruled out this suggestion.
The resigned ministers addressed harsh words to the prime minister, insulting his integrity.
Sajid Javid explained before the deputies the reasons that led him to resign after he was convinced that Johnson would not change and said, “That’s enough,” before some deputies repeated the phrase “Bye Boris” (Bye Boris) by one of them.
Javid and Rishi’s resignation was announced on Tuesday evening, shortly after Boris Johnson apologized over a new scandal.
Johnson admitted he had made a “mistake” by appointing Chris Pincher to his cabinet last February as Assistant Disciplinary Officer 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.
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.
An opinion poll conducted by the “Savanta Koris Institute” and its results were published on Wednesday, showed that 72 percent of Britons believe that the prime minister should resign.
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.
But British newspapers report that anti-Johnson are working behind the scenes to allow a new vote quickly by amending the existing rule protecting the prime minister from any such memorandum for 11 months after.
On Monday, elections for the executive office of the “1922 Committee” will be held, which has the power to decide on this issue.