PALATINATE | Thursday 19th November 2020
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Politics
How the Biden administration will define Brexit Sophie Mowbray With the Democrats securing a record number of votes in the 2020 presidential election, what will a Joe Biden administration mean for the United Kingdom and Brexit? Under the Trump administration, the ‘special relationship’ between the US and UK appeared to blossom again. Trump liked to think of Prime Minister Boris Johnson as his British counterpart labelling him “Britain Trump” in a 2019 speech. The pair’s friendship was seen on display at the G7 conference and Trump has continued to praise and maintain support for the Prime Minister throughout his time in office. Trump backed the decision to leave the European Union and
has been in talks to negotiate a free trade deal with the UK after Brexit. However, the potential of a Biden-Boris ‘bromance’ looks far less likely. While President-elect Biden may not have a soft spot for Boris Johnson, he does for Ireland. With family ties, Biden has embraced his Irish heritage and spoken in favour of maintaining the Good Friday Agreement which stabilised relations and ended violence within Northern Ireland. Fears have arisen over a hard border being established be-
(Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons)
tween the two which would undermine legalities under the Good Friday Agreement.
Achieving a good Brexit deal will be even more crucial with Biden in office Biden expressed his support for the Good Friday Agreement, tweeting “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. Any trade deal between the US and UK must be contingency upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period”. Since his victory, President-elect Biden has spoken with the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson about this issue and is something that will dominate UK-US relations under a Biden administration. As with most issues, Trump versus Biden’s stance on Brexit could not be more different. Biden has been a critic of Brexit and maintained his support for the European Union. With the Brexit transition period nearing an end,
the news of Biden’s victory will undoubtedly impact agreements between the UK and EU. A deal must be agreed between the UK and the EU before the end of the year to avoid a no-deal Brexit. Biden’s support for Ireland and the contentious debate Brexit has spiked over the Ireland and Northern Ireland border will make negotiating a trade deal with the EU much more difficult for the UK.
As with most issues, Biden’s stance on Brexit could not be more different to President Trump’s Achieving a good Brexit deal will be even more crucial for the UK with Biden in office. Under the Trump administration, talks took place around securing a free trade deal between the UK and US which would have eased the blow of a no-deal Brexit. However, with Biden as President, a free trade deal may be harder to achieve, especially if Biden is unhappy with the effects of Brexit on Ireland. The Prime Minister is going to
Arrests made following Ivory Coast elections Jonty Head The leader of the opposition in Ivory Coast, Pascal Affi N’Guessan, has been arrested on grounds of sedition, following the re-election of President Alassane Ouattar.
The former Prime Minister faces charges of terrorism and life imprisonment N’Guessan faces charges of terrorism and could face life imprisonment, having jointly set up a rival administration with the other top opposition candidate, Henrie Konan Bedie. “Condemning in the strongest possible terms this act of sedition, the government has called on the prosecutor to bring those responsible to justice”, said a statement issued by the government. On the day that the result of the election was confirmed by the electoral commission, N’Guessan’s house was surrounded by police. His wife, Angeline Kili, confirmed his arrest several days later. “I can confirm that my husband was arrested during the night but I don’t know where he is right now”, she said on 7th November. It is believed that N’Guessan’s arrest took place while he was en route to his hometown of Bongaouanou from the south-eastern town of Akoupe. Public prosecutor
Adou Richard has confirmed that Bedie was “neither under arrest nor house arrest”. His home was, however, surrounded by police in the days after the election, who used tear gas to disperse the journalists and supporters gathered outside. Both N’Guessan, an ex-Prime Minister, and Bedie, a former President, have described President Ouattara’s candicacy for a third term as illegal. The Ivorian constitution states that a Presi-
dent may serve a maximum of two terms, although Ouattara argues that a disputed amendment to the constitution in 2016 allows him to stand again. N’Guessan and Bedie called on their supporters to boycott the election, and have since attempted to set up a transitional government. Ouattara won the popular vote with a 94.27% majority, although voter turnout was just 53.90%. The United Nations, the African
Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have called on the opposition to back down and instead enter a dialogue with the government. There had been widespread fears of unrest prior to the election. Residents in Abidjan, the country’s largest city, were said to be stockpiling basic goods in the days before the vote, while many chose to retreat to rural villages in order to avoid the anticipated violence. More than thirty died in clashes in the build-up to the election, with five further deaths on the day of the vote itself. Since the country took to the polls, protests by opposition supporters in the south central town of M’Batto were met with fierce resistance by those loyal to the President. “The death toll we can provide on these community clashes is three killed by machetes and gunshot wounds and around 34 wounded,” a police source said. While Abidjan has not yet seen such levels of violence, there are concerns that the current situation could lead to widespread and long-lasting instability. More than 3,000 died in the Civil War that resulted from the highly contested result of the 2010 Presidential election, when Ouattara’s predecessor Laurent Gbagbo refused to concede. (Zenman via Creative Commons)
have to try to buddy up to Biden if he wants the trade deals spoken about under the Trump administration to come into fruition, and so far he has wasted no time in doing this. Johnson has made it clear his friendship with Donald Trump will not take precedence over building a relationship with President-elect Biden. Johnson congratulated Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on their victory publicly via Twitter and privately through phone calls. In the House of Commons, Johnson has already referred to Trump as the “previous President” firmly situating his stance on developing a good relationship with the new Presidentelect Biden pushing his loyalties to his old friend Trump aside. While Biden’s stance on Brexit will undoubtedly complicate relations between the UK and the US, common ground will hopefully be found in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change. Johnson will, however, have to work hard to win over Biden and put their political difficulties aside to maintain a profitable relationship for both the UK and the US.
From the Editors The world watched, and the United States certainly delivered. The politics of the past fortnight has been defined by the US Presdiential election, which saw success for formerVice Presdient Joe Biden. However, Westminster again dominates the news cycle in the midst of growing content over the current second lockdown. Though, perhaps for the first time, not all Covid-19 related developments are entirely pessimistic, as the the promising results in the creation of a vaccination against the virus provide a semblance of optimism. This week’s contributors provide an insight into future of diplomacy, democracy and justice, exploring how changes international changes in governancehave the potential to steer us towards a politics of progression. Aisha Sembhi Politics Editor GOT AN IDEA FOR AN ARTICLE?
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