دار الخليج

Humza Yousaf first person of colour, Muslim to lead Scotland

London: Scotland’s governing party elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader on Monday, making him the first person of colour and the first Muslim to lead the country of 5.5 million people.

Yousaf narrowly defeated rival Kate Forbes ater a bruising five-week contest that exposed deep fractures within the pro-independence Scotish National Party (SNP) as it faces an impasse in its quest to take Scotland out of the United Kingdom.

The 37-year-old Glasgow-born son of South Asian immigrants is set to be confirmed as first minister during a session of the Scotish parliament in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

Yousaf, who currently is Scotland’s health minister, beat two other Scotish lawmakers in a contest to replace First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.

She unexpectedly stepped down last month ater eight years as leader of the party and of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government.

SNP members chose Yousaf over Scotish finance minister Forbes by a margin of 52% to 48%, ater third-placed candidate Ash Regan was eliminated in a first vote. Turnout among the 72,000 members was 70%.

Yo us a ff aces the challenge of uniting th es np and reenergizing the stalled independence campaign.

“Just as I will lead the SNP in the interests of all party members, not just those who voted for me, so I will lead Scotland in the interests of all our citizens whatever your political allegiance,” he said in an acceptance speech at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield rugby stadium.

Yousaf paid tribute to his late grandparents, who emigrated from the Punjab to Glasgow more than 60 years ago.

“They couldn’t have imagined, in their wildest dreams, that two generations later their grandson would one day be Scotland’s first minister,” he said.

“We should all take pride in the fact that today we have sent a clear message: that your colour of skin, your faith, is not a barrier to leading the country we all call home.”

Yousaf is widely seen as a “continuity Sturgeon” candidate who shares the outgoing leader’s liberal social views.

A formidable leader who led the SNP to a dominant position in Scotish politics, Sturgeon failed in her aim of taking Scotland out of the UK and divided the party with a contentious transgender rights law.

The three candidates to succeed her shared the goal of independence, but differed in their economic and social visions for Scotland.

The SNP holds 64 of the 129 seats in the Scotish parliament and governs in coalition with the much smaller Greens. The smaller party had warned it might quit the coalition if the SNP elected a leader that doesn’t share its progressive views - meaning a victory by Forbes or Regan could have splintered the government.

FRONT PAGE

en-ae

2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daralkhaleej.pressreader.com/article/281517935375823

Dar AlKhaleej