(London) Boris Johnson was found guilty by a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday of having “deliberately” lied to the British Parliament on several occasions in the “partygate” affair, pushing the ex-prime minister and now ex- member to cry “political assassination”.
The former Tory leader, who is set to turn 59, clapped back his MP seat last week after being notified of the damning findings of a 14-month investigation into Downing Street parties during lockdowns anti-COVID-19.
He then denounced a “witch hunt” and attacked his successor Rishi Sunak, who must now manage a heavy enemy determined not to leave in silence, and who once again let his anger burst Thursday.
“The commission has not found the slightest evidence” against us, reacted Boris Johnson in a long extremely aggressive press release, reaffirming that he thought he had done nothing wrong and denouncing the “lie” and the “sick” conclusions of the committee.
He accused the commission of wanting to carry “the last stab of a political assassination” and stormed against a “masquerade”: “It is a dark day for deputies and for democracy. This decision means that no MP is safe from a blood feud or expulsion on the basis of trumped up accusations by a tiny minority”.
The committee was set to find out whether Boris Johnson lied to Parliament by repeatedly claiming that all health restrictions had been followed in Downing Street, in a case which has already earned him a police fine and was a major factor in his departure from Downing Street last year.
No longer sitting in the House of Commons, he no longer risks much. The report says the commission would have recommended a 90-day suspension if Boris Johnson hadn’t walked out, a very harsh punishment that would likely have triggered a by-election.
The document, which must still be submitted to the vote of the deputies, nevertheless requests that its access to the premises of the Parliament, generally granted to former prime ministers, be withdrawn.
In addition to having lied to Parliament, the report considers that the former leader “undermined democratic processes” and was “accomplicated” in a “campaign of intimidation” against the work of the Committee on privileges.
He denounces Boris Johnson’s very virulent resignation letter, with the accents of Donald Trump, as an “attack on British democratic institutions”.
nuisance capacity
In March, heard for more than three hours by the commission, Boris Johnson had affirmed “hand on heart” that he had not lied to Parliament.
A year after his resignation from Downing Street, where he spent three years marred by scandals, his resounding departure prevents any return to power of the ex-journalist and mayor of London, pending a possible re-election in the legislative elections scheduled for next year. .
Above all, he has revived the internal wars within the Conservative Party, in power for 13 years, but far behind Labor in the polls.
Boris Johnson keeps influential allies there and an important aura with the base for having won a historic victory in the 2019 legislative elections and then carried out Brexit, when the exit from the European Union seemed to be at an impasse.
Hostilities are now publicly declared with the government of Rishi Sunak, his former finance minister already seen as a traitor whose resignation, followed by many others, led to the fall of Mr. Johnson last summer.
Tensions have been reignited in recent days as the list of decorations and appointments given to Boris Johnson, as is tradition for prime ministers after they leave, has been revoked.
If he remains at the center of political and media attention, his real capacity for nuisance remains uncertain: neither his attempts to return to power nor those to lead slings against the government on certain projects have succeeded for a year.
And only two deputies have imitated him and resigned from Parliament for a week, while some feared a wave of mass departures weakening the government of Rishi Sunak.