![]() 就在英国紧锣密鼓地准备与欧盟展开脱欧谈判之际,英国政坛风云突起——首相特蕾莎•梅18日宣布将于6月8日提前举行大选,这一提议有待19日英国议会通过。梅政府任期原定2020年期满。此前不久,梅还一直宣称下次大选将在2020年举行。那么她为何突然改变态度?
UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans to call a snap general election on 8 June.
She said Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership following the EU referendum.
Explaining the decision, Mrs May said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party wanted the election, calling it a chance to get a government that puts "the majority first".
The prime minister will refuse to take part in televised leader debates ahead of the vote, Number 10 sources said.
Mr Corbyn said Mrs May should not be "dodging" a head-to-head encounter.
There will be a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday to approve the election plan - the prime minister needs two thirds of MPs to vote in favour to bring forward the next scheduled election date of 2020.
Explaining her change of heart on an early election, Mrs May said: "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election."
She accused Britain's other political parties of "game playing", adding that this risks "our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country".
"So we need a general election and we need one now. We have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.
"I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. Since I became prime minister I've said there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and security for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions we must take."
In a statement outside Number 10, Mrs May said Labour had threatened to vote against the final Brexit agreement and cited opposition to her plans from the Scottish National Party, the Lib Dems and "unelected" members of the House of Lords.
"If we don't hold a general election now, their political game-playing will continue and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election," she said.
过去一世纪,英国更换了24位首相,其中有一半未经大选直接上任:
Senior government sources point to a specific factor that changed the prime minister's calculation on an early election.
The end of the likely tortuous Article 50 negotiations is a hard deadline set for March 2019.
Under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, that's when the Tories would be starting to prepare for a general election the following year, with what one cabinet minister described as certain "political needs".
In other words, the government would be exposed to hardball from the EU because ministers would be desperate to avoid accepting anything that would be politically unpopular, or hold the Brexit process up, at the start of a crucial election cycle.
Ministers say that's the central reason for May's change of heart because "if there was an election in three years, we'd be up against the clock".
Mr Corbyn said he welcomed the prime minister's decision, saying it would "give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first", saying that this would include dealing with "the crisis" in housing, education funding and the NHS and pushing for an "economy that works for all".
Asked if he will be the next prime minister, the Labour leader said: "If we win the election - yes - and I want to lead a government that will transform this country, give real hope to everybody and above all bring about a principle of justice for everybody and economic opportunities for everybody."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would be fighting the election "to win".
"I think the prime minister has called this election for selfish, narrow, party political interests, but she has called it and therefore I relish the prospect of getting out to stand up for Scotland's interests and values, standing up for Scotland's voice being heard and standing against the ability of a right-wing Conservative Party to impose whatever policies it wants on Scotland."
Mrs May spoke to the Queen on the phone on Easter Monday to let her know of the election plan, the prime minister's official spokesman said. She also got the full backing of the cabinet before calling the election.
Former prime minister David Cameron called Theresa May's decision to hold a snap general election "brave and right".
British business groups gave a mixed response to the prime minister's sudden call for a general election, as the pound jumped on the news and shares fell.
European Council President Donald Tusk's spokesman said the 27 other EU states would forge ahead with Brexit, saying the UK election would not change their plans.
He added: "We expect to have the Brexit guidelines adopted by the European Council on 29 April and following that the Brexit negotiating directives ready on 22 May. This will allow the EU27 to start negotiations."
"I have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet, where we agreed that the government should call a general election, to be held on 8 June.
"I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election.
"Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became prime minister the government has delivered precisely that.
"Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations.
"We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result. Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back.
"And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.
"We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world.
"That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world.
"This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it.
"At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division. The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.
"In recent weeks Labour has threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill.
"The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
"Our opponents believe because the government's majority is so small, that our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course. They are wrong.
"They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.
"Because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the government's negotiating position in Europe.
"If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue, and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election.
"Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.
"So we need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.
"I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. Since I became prime minister I have said that there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take.
"And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on 8 June. That motion, as set out by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.
"So I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties, you have criticised the government's vision for Brexit, you have challenged our objectives, you have threatened to block the legislation we put before Parliament.
"This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game.
"Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide.
"And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your prime minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats, who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum, and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.
"Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done.
"Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the European Union.
"Every vote for the Conservatives means we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future.
"It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.
"So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election, let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their programmes for government, and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands." (责任编辑:voa365) |