General election 2019: World media weigh the price of Johnson's win
13 December 2019
The triumph of Boris Johnson in the UK general election and his mandate to "get Brexit done" are indisputable to pundits around the world, but hard questions continue about the benefits of Britain leaving the EU, as well as Mr Johnson's ability to deliver Brexit to deadline and his character. "A striking victory that redraws the lines in British politics" is how the New York Times describes it. "A smashing success" says the Washington Post. Russia's NTV channel puts it down to "the magic of the simple and annoying slogan". His gamble on a snap election resulted in "a remarkable turnaround for the party and a personal triumph", says Canada's Globe and Mail. "Boris Johnson has masterfully won his bet," agrees France's Le Monde. But some compliments are backhanded. This story of "a vast political triumph [is] one about a party leader, derided as a charlatan and famous for his fondness for half-truths, who nonetheless was able to win the trust of millions," says a commentary on Australia's national broadcaster ABC. "The seemingly Teflon-coated Mr Johnson has been able to survive and prosper despite - or possibly due to - his capacity for attracting attention," says the Irish Independent. Mr Johnson's greater majority means "he will be able to pass his withdrawal agreement through Parliament... without difficulty, snuffing out any hope among Remainers of halting Britain's departure from the EU", says the Irish Times. It "could also be good news for the EU", says the Dutch financial paper Het Financieele Dagblad. "The prime minister will be less dependent on the hard Brexiteers in his party, which could simplify negotiations." But the consequences of Mr Johnson's plans to leave the EU continue to focus minds, not least given the increased support for the Scottish Nationalist Party. "Openness to the outside world made modern Britain what it is today. Now the fog lowers across the English Channel," says Sweden's Dagens Nyheter. "Johnson is triumphant - but at what price?" asks Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "Calm is not expected in the United Kingdom. Its decay could be the price of Brexit in the long term." Iran's news site Jamaran sees a "deepening divide between Scotland and England" and Sweden's Aftonbladet says a "real cloud of worry" for Mr Johnson will be the danger of the UK being "broken up", with Scotland likely to have a second independence referendum. - See also: General election 2019: Europe's press both relieved and wary There are also broader questions over whether the political system in the UK can deal with an issue as divisive as Brexit. "Many see [Mr Johnson's] hostile and belligerent treatment of parliament during his first two months as a presage... it is feared that Boris Johnson could behave like a real despot and promote a definitive 'take-off' from Europe, turning British society towards the American model (after all, he was born in New York)," says Spain's El Mundo. But blame for division is not laid entirely at the government's feet. "A system of government in which the winners take all is in a permanent state of political civil war, or it becomes a dictatorship. So, the question is whether yesterday's losers will accept their electoral fate," a commentary in the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad notes. "If not, these elections will not stop the political decay." "The election result is important but it is only one of the elements of a more fundamental process - the re-shaping of the British political institutions and British identity itself," says Russia's financial daily Kommersant. "New conditions will require new faces in politics, new party approaches and, possibly, new rules of the game, as well." China's Global Times thinks it may already be too late. "Brexit shows the defect in the UK's political system," the paper says. "Politicians transfer too much power to the people... The time when the sun never set on the British Empire has long passed." This feeling is perhaps less the case in Bangladesh, where the media has highlighted Brits of Bangladeshi origin who have won seats in the election, including Tulip Siddiq, the granddaughter of Bangladesh's first prime minister, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.
Mr Johnson's greater majority means "he will be able to pass his withdrawal agreement through Parliament... without difficulty, snuffing out any hope among Remainers of halting Britain's departure from the EU", says the Irish Times. It "could also be good news for the EU", says the Dutch financial paper Het Financieele Dagblad. "The prime minister will be less dependent on the hard Brexiteers in his party, which could simplify negotiations." But the consequences of Mr Johnson's plans to leave the EU continue to focus minds, not least given the increased support for the Scottish Nationalist Party. "Openness to the outside world made modern Britain what it is today. Now the fog lowers across the English Channel," says Sweden's Dagens Nyheter. "Johnson is triumphant - but at what price?" asks Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. "Calm is not expected in the United Kingdom. Its decay could be the price of Brexit in the long term." Iran's news site Jamaran sees a "deepening divide between Scotland and England" and Sweden's Aftonbladet says a "real cloud of worry" for Mr Johnson will be the danger of the UK being "broken up", with Scotland likely to have a second independence referendum. - See also: General election 2019: Europe's press both relieved and wary There are also broader questions over whether the political system in the UK can deal with an issue as divisive as Brexit.
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Greater certainty over Brexit?