Press review on Boris Johnson's Brexit plans: "An unscrupulous prime minister"

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Britain will leave the EU "without ifs and buts" on October 31, as Boris Johnson put it in his first speech as PM. He is pushing this project forward, also at the expense of Parliament. Two months before Britain's plans to leave the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the Parliament in London to take a forced break until 14 October.

With the step Johnson apparently wants to anticipate the announced plans of the opposition parties. You want to prevent a Brexit without withdrawal agreement by law. But there would hardly be enough time for a break in parliament. Johnson insists on sticking to the scheduled withholding date - with or without agreement.

Many parliamentarians protested against the move, many citizens responded with anger. Sharp criticism also comes from the media. The press review at a glance:

"A grotesque abuse of the highest political office"

The liberal "Guardian" writes: "The postponement of parliament is a royal privilege that can only be tolerated in modern democracy if it is a ceremonial act." If a prime minister who does not even have an electoral mandate pursuing party-political goals for which there is no majority in the lower house, this constitutes a grotesque abuse of the highest political office.

Boris Johnson seizes powers that are symbolically entitled to the crown and uses them for an attack on his opponents in parliament. The fact that he does this to push through a tough Brexit is painful for pro-Europeans. That he is ready to do so should alert anyone who appreciates the traditions of British democracy. "

Vudi Xhymshiti / AP

Protest against Johnson's plans in London: "Defend democracy"

The London Times writes: "The Prime Minister's plausible premise was that a credible commitment to the preparation of a no-deal-Brexit EU head of government alone will make concessions, and indeed, there are tentative signs that that they may be willing to move a bit, but they will not do so if they believe that parliament can prevent Brexit or that Boris Johnson could be removed from office.

The Prime Minister's move was to put an end to any doubts about the Government's resolve and to dispel any idea that Brussels could play one side of the British political establishment against the other. "

"An unscrupulous head of government"

The Financial Times writes: "If Boris Johnson's trick with the compulsory break for Parliament succeeds, Britain loses every right to educate other countries on democratic deficits." For a long time, the constitutional rules of the United Kingdom were based on generally accepted practices There is always the danger that an unscrupulous head of government will trample on these conventions, something that has not happened in modern times - but now.

MEPs must take their chance next week to push through the will of the lower house against the prime minister. The moment they come together may be too short for the passage of a law calling for a postponement of Britain's exit from the EU. Those who oppose a no-deal Brexit must now overcome their differences and vote for a vote of no confidence against the government. "

The "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" commented: "He could not be more straightforward and ruthless on one goal: to secure his own political survival, because this is the purpose of the Prime Minister's plan announced on Wednesday to close the parliament for more than a month Hardly has it returned from the summer break next week, barely giving MEPs more time to take legal action against Johnson's withdrawal from the EU at the end of October, "cost it what it wants."

In the video: "There will be plenty of time to discuss Brexit "

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LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP

The Spanish daily El Mundo writes: "Johnson challenges democracy. (...) His decision is unprecedented, with his eccentric nature and encouragement from Trump, who urges him to make short work of the Union new premier the united kingdom towards autocracy. (...)

We do not yet know whether this maneuver will mean the end of the newly formed government. But we know two things: that hard Brexit will trigger a social and economic drama, the consequences of which may not be clear to the main victims, the British citizens. And we also know that if you give power to populism, not just one country, but a whole continent will have to pay the bill. "

The Milan daily Corriere della Sera sees Johnson's move as a "kamikaze maneuver". It goes on to say: an unprecedented risk that Boris Johnson will take: it could end up bringing Brexit to his terms - or a death blow to the fragile constitutional balance on which the UK is based.

Probably Johnson had no choice. The opposition parties had just come to an agreement to block a possible no deal in parliament - a Brexit without an agreement. But that would have deprived Boris of the key leverage he could have put on the EU to persuade them to renegotiate the divorce conditions. Now the British Prime Minister has burned the bridges behind him. Now Brussels can not hope for any backroom maneuvers of the opposition, it has to take the whole thing seriously. "