LONDON -

Suddenly and without warning, the Scottish Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced her resignation from her post after more than 8 years spent in this position and as head of the "Scottish National Party" (SNP), which holds the doctrine of secession from the United Kingdom.

The decision to resign came at a time that surprised many, especially since Sturgeon succeeded in winning the absolute majority of her party in the last elections in 2021, but a lot of water ran under the bridge of this success after that, which prompted her to resign.

Over the years, Sturgeon has become an icon of the Scotland secession project from the United Kingdom, and despite the failure of the 2014 referendum to lead to this separation, the Prime Minister has remained a fierce advocate for a new referendum on separation.

What led to the resignation of this politician who is respected and appreciated in her country and has the ability to complete her term and is a strong candidate to continue at the helm of power until at least 2026?

Analysts believe that Sturgeon's intention to put secession from the United Kingdom to a referendum again is one of her mistakes (Getty Images)

separation knot

All political analyzes gather that the biggest reason for Sturgeon's resignation was the file of secession from the United Kingdom, and in this file Sturgeon committed 3 political mistakes that precipitated her departure:

  • The first of these mistakes is its insistence on putting the referendum as a political priority for the country, despite the economic crisis it is going through.

  • As for the second mistake, it was entering into a legal challenge with the British government.

    By requesting the opinion of the Supreme Court on the legality of holding a referendum without the approval of the government in London, the Supreme Court decided that any referendum without the approval of the government would not be legal, which is what withdrew from Scotland an important card that it had always waved in its negotiations with London, but without using it.

  • The third mistake that upset Sturgeon with a large part of her party's base is her insistence on making the upcoming general elections a referendum on secession.

    Sturgeon intended to enter the elections with one point in her electoral program, which is the pledge to organize a referendum on secession from the United Kingdom, which was opposed by many within the Scottish National Party, given the country's economic and social problems that deserve to be presented in the electoral program.

The party's leadership is also afraid that entering the upcoming elections with the promise of holding a new referendum on secession only may lead to a decline in the party's popularity and its loss of leadership in the political scene.

Sturgeon was under great pressure within her party to retract this pledge, which she refused and decided to withdraw, pending the outcome of the Scottish National Party's general conference next March.

Transgender Law

Far from "obsessed" with achieving separation from the United Kingdom at any cost, Sturgeon made political mistakes, including the Scottish government's approval of a controversial law that lowers the age at which a sex change can be performed.

The new law stipulates that children at the age of 16 are allowed to change their gender, with the abolition of the requirement to obtain a medical examination before the operation.

However, this law collided with the British Parliament and the government in London, which used "Order 36", which is a law that allows the government to nullify decisions issued by the Scottish Parliament, which makes it not approved by the king in the country.

And the British government abolished this law because, from its point of view, it contradicts the "Equality Act" that is applied in all of the United Kingdom, in addition to the fact that the age of 16 is young to make the decision to change sex.

This law sparked a wave of criticism in the face of Sturgeon in Scotland, which witnessed demonstrations rejecting this law.

And the Prime Minister found herself at the mouth of the cannon, after losing more than one battle to the London government, in addition to accusing her of rushing to issue this controversial law.

The issuance of the law coincided with another case that exploded and its hero was a person convicted of rape twice and sentenced to prison, because this person had announced the change of his gender to a woman, in order to benefit from the requirements of the Scottish law that allows people to redefine themselves, and on this basis this criminal was transferred and called Isla Bryson, to the women's prison.

Opinion polls showed that the popularity of the Scottish National Party declined and was affected by the sex change law, in addition to the transfer of a convicted rape woman to a women's prison.

Sturgeon resigns after achieving great results for the Scottish National Party in the elections and was its most prominent figure (Getty Images)

delayed separation

There is no doubt that the Scottish National Party will lose a charismatic personality that gave it a lot of popularity and achieved unprecedented electoral results, which means that the party must now search for a new leadership.

The British newspaper “The Guardian” quoted a number of party leaders, who refused to reveal their identities, as convinced that presenting the issue of secession to the Scottish public opinion will be postponed for at least the next 5 years, until the general elections in 2026 pass and a government is formed to manage the problems facing the country. .

It seems that the Scottish National Party understood the lesson well, and that is why it began sending messages that the issue of secession will not be its priority in the coming years, especially since most polls indicate that the maximum vote in favor of secession can reach is 50%.