Johnson changes the face of the British government.. An Iraqi holds the education portfolio and Afghanistan topples the Foreign Minister

LONDON

- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson began the political season by making an amendment to Razai that affected sensitive ministries in the government, with the aim of forming a "unified and strong team" according to what was stated in the Prime Minister's announcement, and it was clear that a number of external and internal files affected this expanded government change.

The change affected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which received a lot of criticism over its handling of the Afghan file, and the withdrawal from Kabul Airport.

 On the internal level, the Minister of Education paid the price for his dealings with the Corona pandemic and distance education, to be compensated for the first time in the history of British governments with a minister of Arab origin.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson knows that he is facing a difficult year, in which the consequences of the epidemic are mixed with the effects of Brexit and international changes.

Afghanistan mistakes

British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab found himself the first affected by this cabinet reshuffle, after he was relieved of his position and granted the Ministry of Justice and the position of Deputy Prime Minister, a position he has held since 2020 after Boris Johnson was infected with the Corona virus and entered intensive care.

And all British political analyzes went to link Raab's withdrawal from the conduct of British diplomacy to the mistakes he accumulated in dealing with the Afghan file.

The first of these mistakes was that with the beginning of the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and those historical scenes from Kabul Airport, Dominic Raab was vacationing on a Greek beach, and some media reports stated that he did not respond to the calls of senior British government officials "to deal with that memorable day."

Dominic Raab has faced accusations that he left most of the responsibility on the Ministry of Defense to deal with one of the most complex diplomatic crises in the recent period.

The second mistake of the Foreign Minister in dealing with the Afghan file was in his statements, which accused the British military intelligence of misestimating the speed of the collapse of the Afghan army, as it expected the army to stand firm until the end of this year.

The British Chief of Staff came out to respond to these statements, refusing to blame the Military Intelligence "because everyone was wrong about Afghanistan."

Dominic Raab was replaced by Foreign Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who demonstrated a great ability to negotiate and conclude important trade agreements for his country in the post-Brexit era.

Corona raises and lowers

The British Minister of Education, Cavin Williamson, was one of the first victims of the British government reshuffle, although it was expected given the clear state of dissatisfaction with his management of the education sector since the beginning of the Corona epidemic, from delays in exams and announcing the return of children to schools and then reversing the decision, and the outcome of distance education that Many consider it bad.

And while the shares of Kevin Williamson fell, the Corona virus raised the shares of Nazim Zahawi, the British minister of Iraqi origin, who was assigned by Boris Johnson, with one of the most dangerous tasks during the pandemic, which is the success of the extensive vaccination process, and indeed Nazim Zahawi succeeded in the task and achieved amazing numbers in distributing and securing vaccines during The stage of the war on vaccines between his country and the European Union.

Nazim Zahawi, who will receive the Ministry of Education as the first minister of Arab origin to carry this bag, is considered one of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's winning cards, and one of his close associates, which made him give him confidence in a ministry that is not easy.

Al-Zahawi will inherit a difficult legacy that he must deal with to establish a post-epidemic phase, and provide a total of 7 billion pounds sterling, which the government promised to provide to the education sector in Britain.

"Families and students have gone through difficult times during the pandemic, and now is the time to build a better and fairer education system," Nazim Zahawi said in his first statement after his appointment.

saving people

With great concern, Boris Johnson is watching many economic and political indicators that show that his government's task will not be easy, including the rise in the inflation rate to 3.2 percent, the highest rate in more than three decades.

There is an opinion poll conducted by the "Yukov" website showing the decline in the popularity of the Conservative Party, and for the first time the Labor Party is ahead of the Conservatives in terms of popularity since the 2019 elections.

This comes against the ambition of Boris Johnson, who sources close to him spoke to the Telegraph and revealed that the man intends to continue as prime minister until after the 2026 elections, to be one of the longest prime ministers who have lived in this position, similar to the famous prime minister. Margaret Thatcher.

However, the economic performance will be decisive in judging Johnson's experience and his ability to control price increases, especially in the face of anger over the largest tax hike in the country's history since World War II, with the aim of supporting financing the country's health care system.

And the "Brexit" file is still not completely closed with the continuing differences with the Europeans over the Irish border, and the inability of the current government to complete the trade exchange deal with the United States, which, if concluded, would be the largest in history.