The country needs a deft and experienced leadership to negotiate this difficult process which will involve protracted discussions on a variety of issues.
Published: Sun 26 Jun 2016, 7:41 PM
Finally what had been feared has happened. What next for Great Britain? Talk of a traumatic divorce is in the air. Does it necessarily have to be traumatic? No, not if the procedure laid down in the EU constitution is any indication. Article 20 of the statute clearly provides for a two-year window for the exit process from the date the provision is triggered. But the nervous and shocked EU leaders' demand that Britain should exit 'as soon as possible' is unwarranted and sounds a bit vindictive. It is entirely within Great Britain's right to decide when it will invoke the severance clause. The legally non-binding verdict of the referendum does not make it incumbent on the UK to apply for divorce immediately. So it is not a good idea and smacks of small mindedness for the EU leaders to goad the UK to begin the process right away.
Outgoing premier David Cameron has made it clear a new leader is needed to steer the country towards its chosen destination and indicated that person will be chosen during the next Conservative party conference due in three months. The country needs a deft and experienced leadership to negotiate this difficult process which will involve protracted discussions on a variety of issues. All these matters should be handled in a manner that is mutually beneficial. Apart from this, Scotland and Northern Ireland are the toughest issues before the new leader. The two provinces, which voted overwhelmingly in favour of staying in the EU, have already upped the ante and might find their future in the EU brighter than in the UK. It falls upon the shoulders of the new leader to ensure that these regions do not feel left out as the country finalises a breakaway deal with the EU. The effort should be to see that the regions are least affected by the upcoming divorce. It is a difficult but not an impossible task if the process is shepherded by a mature leadership.