At the head of the Scottish government for eight years, Nicola Sturgeon claims to have energy to continue. Its strategy for independence is in particular in the impasse.
by Eric Albert (London, Correspondence)
Theater in Scottish politics. Nicola Sturgeon, Prime Minister for eight years, after being Vice-Prime Minister for seven years, announced her resignation on Wednesday, February 15. While her mandate ran until 2026, she will leave her post as soon as a successor is appointed.
The surprise is total. Despite a very agitated period in recent weeks, Ms. Sturgeon remained the undisputed leader in the most popular politics, ahead of all her rivals and opponents; And his party, the Scottish National Party (SNP), is very largely in mind in the polls. Simply, she considers that she no longer has the energy and enthusiasm necessary to continue.
Red tailor, chosen emotion, the Scottish Prime Minister chose to put personal reasons above all to announce before the press on Wednesday her decision to leave. “Giving all your energy in this position is the only way to do it. The country deserves it. But the truth is that the same person cannot do this for too long. For me, the risk is that it becomes too long. A Prime Minister never stops, especially in this era where there is virtually no privacy. Even things that seem obvious, like having a coffee with friends, or going to walk alone, become very difficult. ”
Nicola Sturgeon also denounces the “brutality” of modern political life, a criticism that echoes the resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who also left her duties prematurely on January 19 by affirming “Do not have enough in the tank”.
A disputed project
It’s been “a few weeks” that Mrs. Sturgeon claims to have started to have doubts. “I could have continued for a few months, six months, perhaps a year, but over time, I would have had less energy to offer this work. I owe my country to say it now.” The day before , Tuesday, the funeral of a veteran of the independence struggle, Allan Angus, died at 89, where she was in the company of a large number of activists from the Scottish National Party, the party she directs, seems having convinced him to take the plunge. “I am a human being, in addition to being a politician.”
Politically, the past few weeks have been particularly difficult for the Prime Minister. It has passed a law intended to facilitate the acquisition by trans persons of a certificate of gender recognition. In its majority, the Scottish population did not support the project. The heated debate took the form of a scandal with the decision – blocked at the last moment – to lock up in a prison for women a man sentenced to rape, but who had declared himself a woman. In addition, an investigation into the financing of the SNP, and the role of her husband, president of the party, is underway. Nicola Strugeon sweeps all this, recalling that she has faced many other crises in the past.
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