A bad day for two ‘friends’ 

Tuesday was a bad day for two unconventional world leaders across the Atlantic sharing a “special relationship.” 


On September 24, in a scathing attack on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom's Supreme Court ruled that he “acted unlawfully when he advised Queen Elizabeth to suspend parliament weeks before Brexit - and that therefore the suspension was void.” It was done with the objective of “frustrating or preventing the ability of parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification," the ruling stated. 


In what was considered an unprecedented announcement on August 28, Johnson, who assumed the role of premiership on July 24, prorogued the UK Parliament from September 10 to October 14.  The decision, which evoked huge outcry even from his own Conservative party members, was seen as a move to circumvent any opposition to his idea of Brexit - to exit the European Union on October 31, with or without a deal.


Technically, the ruling implies that the UK Parliament was never prorogued in the first place and remains in session, and subsequently it convened on September 25, Reuters reported. There were calls from many quarters for Johnson’s resignation after the ruling. 


Across the Atlantic, the United States President Donald Trump was not having a good day either.  


In a tenure filled with several questions over his atypical style of functioning, the Democrats in the US House of Representatives on Tuesday launched a formal impeachment inquiry into the President Trump’s actions. He was accused of asking Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy “to investigate the son of presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden.” 


This inquiry came after months of toying with the idea over his numerous other controversial dealings.  “The president must be held accountable. No one is above the law," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced, saying Trump's actions undermined national security and violated the US Constitution.


‘Witch Hunt garbage,’ Trump quickly fired back on Twitter.   Nevertheless, the administration was ‘forced’ to release the summary on Wednesday.


However, even if 'articles of impeachment' is approved in the US House of Representatives, where Democrats have a majority, the “trial to determine the president's guilt”  has to be conducted in the Senate, the upper chamber. Given the Republican has majority in the 100 members Senate, it can vote to immediately dismiss the charges.   As such, no president has ever been removed as a direct result of impeachment.”


"He's a different kind of guy, but they say I'm a different kind of guy, too," Trump once said of Johnson, both charting their country’s fate surrounded by extreme polarization and political chaos, often nudged by their eccentricity  and unpredictable standard operating procedure.  


While Trump was parachuted at the top out of nowhere and Johnson, at least had some grounding, politically; however both have built reputation of maintaining a “consistently loose relationship with the truth,” observed a Quartz’s article. 


As things stand, ideologically, both seem to be espousing populist nationalistic rhetoric of “Country First” foreign policy.  ‘Make America Great Again,’ which catapulted Trump to current position, was reiterated in his UN Summit speech on September 24, while Johnson, in one of his earliest meetings as prime minister promised to “make the UK the greatest country on Earth”- his Brexit strategy,  a text book copy.


In the UK, the suspension will start a new round of partisan fight between the ruling Tories and opposition led by Labour over the contentious Brexit issue.  In US, the issue will galvanise the already polarised atmosphere as the 2020 presidential campaign trail begins. 


Yet, it was a very bad Tuesday for both, with possible ramifications for future.