The future of Britain's exit from the European Union can be said to have become murkier than ever. To avoid a "no-deal withdrawal," the British Parliament must find a way out through suprapartisanship.
The draft deal for Brexit that was agreed on by Britain and the EU, and stipulated such points as the conditions for the withdrawal, was voted down in the House of Commons. British lawmakers voted 432-202 against the draft deal, a margin of 230 votes, the biggest defeat for a British government in modern history.
In addition to objections by opposition parties, there were rebels among ruling Conservative lawmakers, with as many as nearly 40 percent of member legislators voting down the deal. With the Conservative Party split into three groups -- pro-Brexit hard-liners, pro-Brexit moderates and supporters of EU membership -- the hard-liners and supporters of EU membership voted down the deal.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has to assume a heavy responsibility for having failed to implement any effective measures to cope with the disunion in the ruling party.
Her tactics of postponing a vote on the deal -- originally slated for last December -- and getting legislators who oppose the deal to change their mind by winning public opinion to her side failed to prove effective. May's remarks that voting down the deal would lead either to a no-deal withdrawal or to the cancellation of Brexit just ended up inviting a backlash from legislators who took her remarks as a threat.
In a statement following the vote, May said she would hold talks with senior officials of the ruling and opposition parties and present an alternative proposal by Jan. 21. With the decline in her unifying power exposed to this extent, will May be able to exercise her leadership to work out a proposal that could win majority support in Parliament? We cannot help harboring doubts about the likelihood of this.
Swiftly decide on policy
Under the draft agreement reached between the May administration and the EU, a transition period has been set to run until the end of 2020, even after Britain leaves the EU on March 29, during which the present trade relations would be maintained between the two.
The agreement states that during the transition period, the pending issue of border controls between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and Ireland should be resolved.
Hard Brexiters have not changed their assertion that Britain's sovereignty cannot be completely restored under the draft agreement. The largest opposition Labour Party, without presenting any concrete measures for the withdrawal, is aiming for a snap general election by removing May from her post, and a change of government.
Both the ruling and opposition parties should set their party interests aside and move forward to reach a breakthrough in the situation. As long as lawmakers who support a no-deal withdrawal are a minority in Parliament, there is surely room for a compromise.
Such an attempt is likely to revolve around efforts to win lawmakers who support EU membership over to May's side with a more moderate withdrawal plan, which would retain unity with the EU, or to hold another national referendum on withdrawal from the EU. The important thing is to avert a no-deal Brexit, which would send both Britain and the EU into turmoil and have an adverse impact on global economy.
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Commission, the executive institution of the EU, emphasized his position that the draft agreement is the best deal possible and warned that there is little time left.
Britain must quickly decide on its policy for dealing with the issue, bearing in mind the possibility of asking the EU side to postpone the Brexit slated for March 29.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 17, 2019)
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