スコットランドの独立を問うた2014 年レファレンダムへの道標

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  • スコットランド ノ ドクリツ オ トウタ2014ネン レファレンダム エ ノ ミチシルベ
  • The Landmarks to the 2014 Referendum on Scottish Independence

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Abstract

The referendum was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014 to decide on its independence from the United Kingdom. The proposal put forth by the Scottish National Party(SNP) government for an independent Scotland was soundly defeated with a wide 45-55 margin. The Scottish people expressed their desire to remain within the United Kingdom for the time being. The sign was very clear, given that only four council areas among 32 voted in the affirmative. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond took the responsibility for the utter loss and resigned to pass the reign to his lieutenant Nicola Sturgeon. The independence movement in Scotland is almost 80 years old, tracing back to the 1930s. The SNP has been a locomotive for it but its sphere of activity had long been limited to the House of Commons in Westminster, where it cannot easily elect its Member of Parliament(MP)s due to its First-Past-the Post system. Two devolution referenda were held in Scotland in 1979 and 1997 to decide if the British political system should be more decentralised in favour of Scotland. The first referendum under the James Callaghan Labour Party government was not successful but Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair kept his electoral promise to revive a long-defunct Scottish Parliament in Holyrood after the second successful referendum. The Mixed-Member Proportion System was adopted to elect Member of Scottish Parliament(MSP)s. Its outcome was a multiparty system, where the four main parties: Labour, the Tories, the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP are of great significance. The SNP came to form a minority government in 2007 and finally won the majority seats in 2011. The First Minister did not waste much time to initiate a referendum to move Scotland towards independence. Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to the SNP undertakings on the early optimism that the referendum could shut up the vociferous voice for independence flatly for years to come. However, his behaviour betrayed panicking and frustration on the way.

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