Johnson eyes Dec 12 election to break Brexit deadlock

LONDON (AP):

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally abandoned his promise of an October Brexit and pinned his hopes on a December election.

Two days after lawmakers stymied Johnson’s latest attempt to pass his European Union (EU) divorce deal, he said on Thursday that the only way to break Britain’s Brexit impasse was a general election. Johnson said he would ask lawmakers to vote on Monday on a motion calling a national poll for December 12.

To hold an election, Johnson must win a vote – by a two-thirds majority – among lawmakers. That looked like a tough task. Parliament has already dealt Johnson a series of setbacks and derailed his promise to take Britain out of the EU on the scheduled date of October 31 “come what may”.

The most recent blow came on Tuesday when lawmakers blocked Johnson’s attempt to fast-track an EU divorce bill through Parliament in a matter of days, saying that they needed more time to scrutinise the legislation.

Britain’s next scheduled election is in 2022. To secure an early election, Johnson needs either to win Monday’s vote in Parliament or lose a no-confidence vote, which, so far, opposition parties have refused to call.

The main opposition Labour Party said Wednesday that it would “support a general election when the threat of a no-deal crash-out is off the table”. It had no immediate response to Johnson’s statement on Thursday.

Smaller opposition parties said they wanted an election but were wary of doing it on Johnson’s terms.