May criticised over snap general elections

LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May has been criticised for deciding to hold general election on June 8 in the name of “national interest” and “national unity.

Theresa May has won the backing of MPs for her decision to hold a general election on 8 June, saying it will secure “stability and certainty” as Britain prepares to enter Brexit talks but her decision to hold early snap elections shocked everyone in Britain.

Speaking to this correspondent, British Pakistani parliamentarians said that Theresa May has attempted to tighten her grip on power while taking U-turns like Pakistani politicians.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh told Geo News that the British prime Minister said on at least 9 occasions that she will not hold general elections prior to 2020 but then she took the U-turn in order to “eliminate Labour Party” from the political scene. She said that Theresa May had acted not for the interests of Britain as she claimed but for the Conservative party and herself by calling early general elections. She said that Scottish voters will vote for the nationalists to seek independence of Scotland.

Labour’s Khalid Mahmood said that Theresa May hopes to extend her majority in the parliament by adding to the seats in parliament. He said that it’s a fact that polls are putting labour behind in the race and that’s why Theresa May smells that she can extend her majority in the parliament from around 17 to nearly 100 but “she’s mistaken”.

Khalid Mahmood said that Tory party is vulnerable in many areas to Liberal Democrats and Labour. He said that the “Remainers” will vote for Liberal Democrats and Labour and that means Theresa May will not get what she is hoping for.

MPs have backed the government motion to hold a general election, with 522 voting in favour and 13 against, a majority of 509. It gives the prime minister the two-thirds majority she needed to overturn the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, passed by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition in 2011, without which no general election could have been held until 2020.

Yaseem Qureshi MP said that Theresa May has made a “cynical move” and it has divided the country. She said that she will seek re-election. She said that for British Muslims it will be difficult to campaign during the holy month of Ramzan. She hopes that British Muslims will come out to vote and choose the right candidates.