Britain.. How did Sunak overcome the rebellion within his party over the “Rwanda Plan”? | Policy

Al Jazeera Net correspondents

London- Long live the British Prime Minister Rishi Sonak An exceptional and politically difficult day, as he makes his greatest attempt to convince the validity of his plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, not only to his political opponents in labor PartyBut for members Conservative Partyespecially those who belong to the conservative right, and are cautious about the plan, which they believe will not solve the problem.

Sunak survived the rebellion against him from his party’s representatives, after the bill was passed in the House of Commons, by voting in favor of it with 313 votes against 269 votes against, with a majority of only 44 votes.

Sunak continued to fear a state of rebellion within his party’s ranks hours before voting on the amended plan, which stipulates that Rwanda is a safe destination, in order to close the door for British courts to cancel the deportation of asylum seekers under the pretext that their lives may be at risk in Rwanda.

Sunak’s fight for this plan was not just to pass it, but it was for his political fate, because dropping it would have meant losing the confidence of his party’s representatives, which means that he would have two options, either resigning from the leadership of the Conservative Party or calling for general elections. .

Immediately after voting for this plan – which will go through a second reading in the House of Commons before the end of the year as well as in the House of Lords -, the Prime Minister stated on the X platform that “the British will decide who arrives in their country, not criminals or human trafficking gangs.”

Windy breakfast

Unusually, the Prime Minister invited the leaders of the right-wing Conservative Party to the Prime Minister’s Office for a breakfast party, and all the invitees were among those who declared their opposition to the deportation plan towards Rwanda without including provisions stipulating withdrawal from the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as from the European Court of Human Rights to ensure that it does not The ability of this court to intervene in decisions to deport asylum seekers.

During this meeting, Sunak tried to convince his party’s representatives that he had taken everything necessary to make this plan a success before the end of the year, and it is the only card remaining in the hands of the Conservatives to confront their voting bloc, which they want to present to them during the upcoming election campaign in a few months.

Indeed, Sunak succeeded in convincing a number of them to withdraw their opposition to the new plan, despite not making any promise to abandon international agreements, including the European Convention on Human Rights.

Hours later, other voices began declaring rebellion against this plan, prompting the Prime Minister to hold quick, private meetings with Conservative Party leaders and prominent figures opposed to the plan to calm the anger.

The right is angry

What Sunak feared most was the rebellion of the “Conservative Right” bloc, a parliamentary bloc of the Conservative Party that includes 100 parliamentarians, which delayed announcing its position until the last minutes before voting on the new deportation plan, to announce that it would not vote in favor of the plan, but would be absent from the vote. Vote.

This bloc left the door open to the possibility of dropping the plan during the second reading vote scheduled at the end of the year, if the Prime Minister does not fulfill his promise to add more stringent provisions to ensure that deportation decisions are not overturned by the courts, especially the European Court of Human Rights.

Although it is rare for any law to be dropped in the House of Commons during the second reading, this matter has happened in British history, specifically in 1986 with the Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher The law was dropped during the second reading.

Strong push

The vote in favor of the deportation plan to Rwanda gave an important boost to the British Prime Minister, after a difficult week in which he received attacks from his closest political friends, and the matter concerns former Immigration Minister Robert Jennerk, who resigned last week, considering that Sunak’s plan is weak and will not succeed, which is the same position that was expressed. About the former Minister of Interior Suella Braverman.

According to the results of the vote, not a single Conservative MP voted against the plan, while 35 MPs were absent to avoid voting, whether in support or opposition. This shows that the Conservative MPs avoid embarrassing their leader or trying to overthrow him, and they know that overthrowing him means going to general elections, and the ruling party is not ready. she has.

With this vote also, the Prime Minister succeeded in consolidating his position of refusing to withdraw from international treaties and institutions, despite the pressure exerted on him from right-wing conservative parliamentarians to skip all international agreements to make the deportation plan a success.