On 20 October, Liz Truss announced her resignation as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. During her resignation speech, the Conservative party leader said she was not able to deliver the mandate upon which she was elected.
Truss’ tenure as the prime minister lasted only 45 days, making her the shortest-serving post-War Prime Minister in UK history.
Truss was initially appointed after a Conservative leadership election that was held after her predecessor, Boris Johnson’s resignation. She was also the last Prime Minister to be sworn in by the late-Queen Elizabeth II, just two days before her passing on 6 September.
During her appointment, Truss promised tax cuts funded by borrowings, deregulation and a sharp shift to the right on cultural and social issues. However, she later acknowledged that she was not able to deliver the mandate given to her.
“I recognise though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party,” she said.
Meanwhile, her time as the Prime Minister was marked by a highly controversial and largely unpopular ‘mini-budget’ presented by her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng, on 23 September. The budget later caused the Pound Sterling to fall to its 37-year low against the American Dollar.
Before her resignation, Truss said that she received information that a group of over 100 MPs submitted letters of no confidence against her leadership.
Truss will remain as the prime minister until a successor has been chosen.
Similarities in Malaysia
After Liz Truss announced her resignation, DAP Chairman Lim Guan Eng compared the situation in the UK to that of Malaysia and said that they share a lot of similarities.
In a statement, Lim claims that Truss’ economic policy failures and U-turns are similar to that of Malaysia, with the same and worse faced by the people and businesses under caretaker Prime Minister Sabri.
“Ismail Sabri recently made three U-turns in a single week on his rationale for dissolving Parliament to call for snap elections,” Lim said.
He then said that, unlike Truss who proudly relinquish her position, Ismail Sabri has chosen to remain “unrepentant about his failures and has chosen instead to brazenly ask for Malaysians to return Umno and him to power”.
“Liz Truss’ resignation is a timely reminder of the importance of political accountability for mismanaging the economy and that Malaysians must punish Umno and Ismail Sabri for policy failures and U-turns,” Lim added.
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