British Prime Minister Theresa May to face leadership challenge
London, Dec 12: Embattled British Prime Minister Theresa May will face a vote of no-confidence triggered by her own party lawmakers over her controversial Brexit deal, as she vowed to fight it out with "everything I have got".
May is set to face a vote of no-confidence in her leadership after the required 48 MPs from her Conservative Party filed letters with the influential 1922 Committee, which represents rank-and-file Conservative MPs in the House of Commons.
"I will contest that vote with everything I have got," May said in a statement at Downing Street, warning that the leadership challenge will delay or even cancel Brexit.
"I stand ready to finish the job," she said.
The vote, triggered amid ongoing divisions over her Brexit deal, takes place in the form of a secret ballot on Wednesday evening. May will need to convince a majority of MPs (158) to be able to win the vote and then her leadership cannot be challenged for a year.
However, if she loses, the party will have to elect a new leader who will then go on to become the next British Prime Minister.
The leadership challenge comes as she was desperately trying to rescue her Brexit deal as she tried to convince European Union (EU) leaders to offer some concessions to convince Britain's MPs to vote for it on Tuesday, a day after she postponed a crucial parliamentary vote scheduled for this week over the Withdrawal Agreement struck with the EU.
She was due to travel to Dublin on Wednesday but will now remain in London to contest the no-confidence vote.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who held talks with the British PM in Brussels on Tuesday, said the EU would not "renegotiate" the deal but there was room for "further clarifications".
"The deal that we have achieved is the best deal possible, it is the only deal possible," he reiterated.
Britain's MPs have to give the go-ahead for May's deal if it is to come into effect when the UK leaves the EU on Brexit Day March 29, 2019.
But deep divisions remain on all sides of the House of Commons over the so-called "backstop", a temporary customs arrangement designed to prevent the need for checkpoints at the Irish border if a long-term solution between the UK and EU cannot be agreed post-Brexit.
Critics of the arrangement are unhappy that under the terms of the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement, the UK cannot exit the backstop without the EU agreeing to it, which could effectively leave the UK bound by EU customs laws beyond Brexit.
Downing Street had said a House of Commons vote on the agreement will be held on the deal before January 21, as that is the deadline enshrined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. That deadline now looks more and more uncertain.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
India backs 'Myanmar-led, Myanmar-owned' peace process: EAM Jaishankar
New Delhi (PTI): India supports a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process that can deliver lasting peace and development for all in the Southeast Asian country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Wednesday.
The external affairs minister also highlighted the importance India attaches to its ties with Myanmar saying the country lies at the confluence of New Delhi's three key foreign policy priorities: 'Neighbourhood First', 'Act East', and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions).
Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and it shares a 1,640-kilometer-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
The country has been witnessing widespread violent protests after the military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021. The military-backed party secured a victory in Myanmar's recent general election.
Jaishankar was speaking virtually at the inauguration of the Sarsobeikman Literary Centre building in the heart of Yangon. The building has been constructed with New Delhi's assistance.
"As the world's largest democracy with 1.4 billon people living together in peace and harmony, India has regularly shared its experiences in federalism and constitutionalism with stakeholders in Myanmar," he said.
"We support an inclusive, Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process, that can deliver lasting peace and development for all in Myanmar," he added.
Jaishankar said the Sarsobeikman Centre will support the conservation and study of classical and folk literatures of Myanmar, as well as translation, archival work, creative writing, and scholarly exchanges.
"Myanmar lies at the confluence of our three key foreign policy priorities - Neighbourhood First, Act East, and MAHASAGAR including the Indo-Pacific," he said.
"Our multifaceted engagement, includes political, trade, security and cultural cooperation. When it comes to development cooperation, our engagement with Myanmar has been people-centric and demand-driven, aimed towards strengthening local economies and improving lives," the minister said.
Jaishankar said India and Myanmar have been bound together for centuries by spirituality, kinship and geography, as well as by language and literature.
"As Buddhism and Pali language and literature travelled across South Asia, they carried with them ideas, texts, and a shared intellectual heritage," he said.
