Prime Minister suspends parliament to avoid censure
The Canadian Parliament was shut down Thursday after an unprecedented request by Prime Minister Stephen Harper allowed him to avoid a vote that would have surely toppled his government.Harper had scheduled a confidence vote on several budget proposals for next Monday, but once the opposition Liberal and New Democratic Party (NDP) released a public agreement to bring the government down and form a coalition to replace it, Harper asked the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, to prorogue Parliament until January. Opposition leaders cried foul, saying the Prime Minister’s request was an overt attempt to save his own job. "We must realize the enormity of what has happened here today. For the first time in the history of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada is running away from the Parliament of Canada," said Liberal leader Stéphane Dion after the suspension was made official.
Note EU-Digest: Suspending parliament is something only dictators do. Mr. Harper's 44 % popularity with the Canadian voters does not sound like an overwhelming vote of confidence to do so? All we need now is that President Bush and his confidants find this an appealing idea and declare Martial Law in the US before the inauguration of President elect Barack Obama, giving the economic meltdown there as the excuse to do so. If he does, he should realize the US population will not be as passive as the Canadians have been so far.
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