A deepening crisis in Scotland's ruling party
Ecosse: la crise s'intensifie au sein du parti au pouvoir
Chute dans les sondages d’opinion, affrontements et divisions durant la campagne, perte d’adhérents, démission du président, arrestations de membres du parti… Depuis son élection en mars dernier, le Premier ministre écossais Humza Yousaf a du mal à maîtriser le chaos qui règne au sein du Parti National Ecossais (SNP). Retour sur les défis que le successeur de Nicola Sturgeon doit affronter.
When Nicola Sturgeon suddenly announced her resignation as leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) and first minister of Scotland on February 15th, she declared she wanted a more private life. If anything, the glare of attention has intensified.
2. On April 5th police arrested and released without charge Peter Murrell, Ms Sturgeon’s husband, who also served as the SNP’s former chief executive. Cops are investigating claims that £667,000 ($829,000) raised to support a second referendum on Scottish independence was improperly spent on other things. They confiscated a swanky motorhome from the driveway of Mr Murrell’s elderly mother.
3. On April 18th police arrested and released without charge Colin Beattie, the party’s treasurer (who stepped back from the role the following day). The men are two of three “registered officers” on the party’s accounts. The third is Ms Sturgeon; Holyrood is rife with speculation that she will be questioned, too.
4. Humza Yousaf, elected by SNP members to replace Ms Sturgeon on March 27th, appears powerless to contain the chaos. Unlike his imperious predecessor, Mr Yousaf cuts a rather passive figure. So far he has acted more like a bemused narrator of the mess rather than the new broom who will clean it all up. “I’ll have to speak to Colin Beattie. My understanding is he’s still in the police station being questioned,” he declared, when first asked whether Mr Beattie could continue to sit on a party committee. “Yes, of course I’m surprised when one of my colleagues has been arrested,” he added, in a quote for the ages.
Suspicious timing ?
5. Mr Yousaf was the source of the revelation that the SNP had been without auditors for six months, after the previous firm’s resignation in October. He was unaware of that until he became leader, he said. His closest rival for the leadership, Kate Forbes, declares it all “mindblowing”.
“We need decisive and quick action or we will be in trouble,” she said, in what sounded like a job application.
6. News of Mr Beattie’s arrest broke hours before Mr Yousaf delivered the first major policy address of his term, optimistically titled: “New Leadership, A Fresh Start for Scotland”. Mr Yousaf did indeed ditch chunks of Ms Sturgeon’s agenda. But that was not so much born of political conviction—he campaigned as her political apprentice—but because it wasn’t working. A faltering bottle-deposit scheme will be delayed and plans to restrict alcohol advertising reconsidered. Of the second referendum Ms Sturgeon hankered for, there was not a word.
1. resignation démission / if anything ici, au contraire / glare regard fixe et réprobateur; ici, degré (intense).
2. to release relâcher, libérer / without charge sans inculpation / husband mari / former ancien / chief executive directeur général / cop (fam.) flic / to investigate enquêter sur / claim accusation / to raise lever, réunir (fonds) / to support soutenir (financièrement); ici, aider à organiser / improperly de manière inappropriée / swanky luxueux / motorhome camping-car / driveway allée (privée) / elderly âgé(e).
3. treasurer trésorier / to step back from se retirer/ démissionner de / account compte / [...] is rife with speculation les rumeurs vont bon train à ....
4. to replace remplacer / to appear sembler / powerless impuissant / to contain the chaos ici, calmer la situation / unlike contrairement à / imperious autoritaire / to cut, cut, cut ici, représenter, donner l'image de / rather plutôt / figure personnalité, personne / so far jusqu'à présent / to act agir, se comporter / bemused perplexe / mess ici, situation chaotique / new broom nouvelle recrue; ici, personne récemment élue (à la tête du parti) / to clean sth up nettoyer/ici, solutionner qch / still encore, toujours / police station commissariat / whether si (oui ou non) / to sit, sat, sat on assister/participer à / quote citation, déclaration / for the ages pour la postérité. 5. source origine / firm cabinet / to be unaware of ignorer/ne pas être au courant de / for the leadership à/ pour la présidence/tête du parti /
mindblowing hallucinant / decisive ferme / to be in trouble avoir des ennuis / to sound like ressembler à / application candidature.
6. to break, broke, broken ici, éclater / hours before ici, quelques heures (seulement)/peu de temps avant / to deliver ici, prononcer / policy politique (ligne d'action), mesures / address ici, discours / term ici, mandat / fresh ici, nouveau / indeed en effet / to ditch abandonner / chunk partie (substantielle) / agenda programme (politique) / to work ici, fonctionner, "marcher" / faltering branlant / bottle-deposit ici, consigne / scheme ici, projet / to delay reporter, remettre à plus tard / plan projet / to restrict limiter / advertising publicité(s) / to reconsider réfléchir de nouveau à, revoir / to hanker for rêver de.