LONDON, September 10. /TASS/. The House of Commons of the UK Parliament has once again rejected an initiative by the country’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson to hold early parliamentary elections in October.
During the vote, aired by the parliamentary TV channel on Monday night, the initiative was supported by 293 members of parliament, which is way below the required minimum of 434 ‘yes’ votes, or two thirds of the parliament.
A total of 46 lawmakers voted against the proposal.
The threshold of 434 votes can be reached only with support from the opposition. However, the Labour Party and other opposition forces said they would support early parliamentary polls only after Johnson requests a Brexit delay from the European Union. The UK prime minister has so far ruled out the possibility.
The government ruled to suspend the parliament’s work, which will resume on October 14, after the Queen’s speech, Johnson said.
The UK premier requested Queen Elizabeth II to suspend the parliament’s work for five weeks late last month and got the royal approval on August 28. Political analysts and Johnson’s opponents view the move as an attempt to prevent the lawmakers from blocking a no-deal Brexit, but the premier strongly denies those accusations.
The so-called prorogation, or temporary suspension, of the parliament is a standard procedure to end a parliamentary session. Normally, it lasts about a week, but this time Johnson insisted on suspending the parliamentary work earlier than planned and for a period of five weeks, saying the government needs this time for talks with Brussels and preparations for Brexit.
On Monday, the opposition demanded that Johnson's government release private correspondence of its officials and press service to prove that the premier was not misleading lawmakers and the public about its plans for Brexit.