Scottish independence loses its most respected leader.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon surprisingly announced her resignation this Wednesday from her position, after years of holding it.
Sturgeon's decision follows months of controversy over a law that makes it easier for people to change their gender on official documents.
Justice stopped that norm, which the premier had promoted.
And as she reported, that would be one of the reasons for her decision.
The leader announced her resignation at a press conference at 11 in the morning.
From Bute House, the Scottish government house, she said that the time is "right for me, for my party and for my country" and that she has ordered her party to begin the process of electing a new leader.
But
she will continue to support a referendum for independence.
The prime minister announced that she will remain in office until a new leader is chosen.
"I am a human being as well as a politician," he said.
Sturgeon described his role as "the greatest job in the world" and said it has been a "privilege beyond measure."
She is "proud" to be the first woman and "the longest-serving prime minister," she declared.
While acknowledging that some may feel his departure is "too soon," he said: "In my head and in my heart, I know the time is now."
Sturgeon admitted that the decision has been "really difficult", but that he comes from a place of "tough love".
"Independence is a cause in which I believe in every fiber of my body," he warned, after revealing that he will remain in office until the party finds a replacement.
shock
The news shocked the Scots and the kingdom at breakfast time.
Nobody expected it.
60 percent of Scots support his government and not necessarily his decision to back the upcoming election as a referendum on Scottish independence, which would mean the beginning of the disintegration of the kingdom.
Nicola Sturgeon's resignation leaves a void in her pro-independence party.
Photo: EFE
But the effects of Brexit, the battle for the independence of her country, the division that independence generated in her party, the
very high cost of living
and the isolation in which the European divorce has left the kingdom have affected her.
But she remains
one of Britain's most popular and respected politicians.
It is unclear how long he will remain in office or how the transition will take place.
It comes a month before a special SNP conference to decide how the party plans to push the case for independence, after the High Court ruled that Holyrood could not hold a unilateral referendum.
There will be a battle for his leadership.
The separatist referendum
As the longest-serving First Minister, and before Alex Salmond was the SNP MP who rose from a mediocre opposition party to the dominant force in Scottish politics, Sturgeon has had a major impact on public life in the whole of the UK.
Nicola Sturgeon is behind a referendum for Scottish independence.
Photo: AFP
His departure will surprise many in the nationalist movement.
It will spark a fight to replace her,
which could dictate the future of the SNP and the drive for independence.
A poll this week found that half of SNP voters believed that Sturgeon's plan to treat the upcoming general election as a de facto independence referendum was not credible.
Research by Lord Ashcroft for
Holyrood
magazine also found a 12-point lead for the Union on the constitutional issue, as well as the public's perception that the Scottish government's priorities do not align with theirs.
There has been a
backlash
within parts of the SNP to the prime minister's plan to treat every vote cast by the party in the upcoming general election as a direct vote for independence.
One of the most widespread criticisms is that it would not be recognized, which seems to have resonated with voters.
Among people who voted for the SNP in the 2019 general election, 48 percent said another contest could not be used to install MPs to infer a vote for independence.
Forty-four percent of party supporters agreed with Sturgeon.
There was further skepticism among the general public, with only 21 percent supporting the de facto plan.
67 per cent said that the election covers a range of issues and therefore it cannot be assumed that every vote for the SNP or the Greens is a vote to leave the UK.
The remaining 12 percent were undecided.
A source close to Sturgeon told the BBC that "he has had enough".
”I ran out of gas.
That's it," said the premier.
Alison Thewliss, SNP MP for Glasgow Central and internal affairs spokesperson for the party, said she was "gutted" by Sturgeon's impending resignation.
She tweeted: "Nicola has been an amazing leader."
Paris, correspondent
BC
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