Hamza Yousaf resigns as first Chief Minister of Scotland

A year after Nicola Sturgeon’s resignation over the illegal funding scandal and the resignation of Hamza Yousaf as senior minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) the crisis has revealed a serious crisis in pro-independence ranks. Survey. Yusuf announced his resignation on Monday as he did not have the required votes to overcome the two no-confidence motions.

At the time of announcing his resignation, Youssef admitted that he “underestimated” the impact of his decision. He announced last week the break from his government coalition with the Green Party. The former SNP leader assured that he would be able to overcome the motion of no confidence, but at the cost of compromising his “values ​​and principles”.

Fighting back tears, Yusuf declared at the end of his brief speech, “My time as chief minister is over.” He announced this at the time of farewell “Freedom comes hopelessly close” and “declared a willingness to hand the baton to anyone who can carry it to the finish line.”

The resignation of Yousaf, 39, and the son of Pakistani immigrants, came just 13 months after he came to power as Nicola Sturgeon’s “shelter” and amid deep internal divisions within the SNP. When taking charge of Scottish nationalism, Joseph continued his predecessor’s commitment to independence, although he postponed the date of a hypothetical second independence referendum.

Youssef also decided to defend the controversial ‘trans’ law, which was blocked by the British government and is currently in court, which allows self-identification of gender at the age of 16 and without the need for a medical certificate. Will give. Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been one of the former Scottish Prime Minister’s biggest critics.

The drama of his wife’s family trapped in Gaza during the Israeli invasion also had a personal impact on Youssef, the only British leader to defend the ceasefire. The pressures it faced over the past year contributed to its surprise collapse, following the sudden breakdown of the government deal with the Green Party after it abandoned the aim of a 75% emissions reduction in Scotland by 2030.

“I don’t think Hamza Yousuf is in a position to lead Scotland regain the trust that has been broken“, his former coalition partner and Green Party co-leader Patrick Harvie announced on Monday morning. The Chief Minister was facing two consecutive no-confidence motions, tabled by the Conservative Party and the Labor Party, which The SNP has 63 out of 129 regional representatives and was ruling in coalition with the Green Party the direct reason for the crisis.

The SNP may once again turn to Nicola Sturgeon’s former deputy chief minister, veteran John Swinney, to try to right the nationalist ship in the biggest crisis in the last two decades. Another option is to call for a new leadership contest, in which Kate Forbes, Joseph’s former rival and more moderate, with regard to independence issues and social policies, would start as the favourite.

The crisis of Scottish nationalism comes days after Labor suffered its first defeat in the elections in a decade. Amid the countdown to the general election this autumn, 33% of Scottish voters currently lean towards Labour, while 31% support the Nationalists, according to a recent YouGov poll.

Another Statista poll, meanwhile, gives those favoring remaining in the United Kingdom a 53% to 47% advantage over voters favoring independence. In the 2014 referendum, the independence issue was defeated by ten points (55% to 45%).