LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has submitted his response to a police questionnaire relating to Downing Street parties that may have breached coronavirus regulations, his office said Friday.
Police are investigating claims Johnson attended gatherings that may have violated Britain's strict distancing and virus prevention rules.
Public outcry over the so-called "partygate" scandal has left Johnson fighting for political survival. Several MPs from his Conservative party have publicly called for his resignation, although he denies any wrongdoing.
Police confirmed last week that they would be sending "formal questionnaires to more than 50 people" to ask about their activities on the dates of at least 12 gatherings in Downing Street over 2020 and 2021.
The document "has formal legal status and must be answered truthfully" within seven days, according to the police.
Johnson faces a fine unless he can explain why he was at events held during coronavirus restrictions.
Johnson has already apologised in parliament for a series of gatherings identified in an official inquiry led by senior civil servant Sue Gray, but vowed to fight on in office.
Gray admitted her 12-page report was limited in scope after London's Metropolitan police force launched its own investigation into 12 parties held in Downing Street over the past two years.
UK’s Johnson submits his response to ‘partygate’ probe
https://arab.news/6q896
UK’s Johnson submits his response to ‘partygate’ probe
Bangladesh’s religio-political party open to unity govt
- Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years
DHAKA: A once-banned Bangladeshi religio-political party, poised for its strongest electoral showing in February’s parliamentary vote, is open to joining a unity government and has held talks with several parties, its chief said.
Opinion polls suggest that Jamaat-e-Islami will finish a close second to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the first election it has contested in nearly 17 years as it marks a return to mainstream politics in the predominantly Muslim nation of 175 million.
Jamaat last held power between 2001 and 2006 as a junior coalition partner with the BNP and is open to working with it again.
“We want to see a stable nation for at least five years. If the parties come together, we’ll run the government together,” Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman said in an interview at his office in a residential area in Dhaka, days after the party created a buzz by securing a tie-up with a Gen-Z party.
Rahman said anti-corruption must be a shared agenda for any unity government.
The prime minister will come from the party winning the most seats in the Feb. 12 election, he added. If Jamaat wins the most seats, the party will decide whether he himself would be a candidate, Rahman said.
The party’s resurgence follows the ousting of long-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a youth-led uprising in August 2024.
Rahman said Hasina’s continued stay in India after fleeing Dhaka was a concern, as ties between the two countries have hit their lowest point in decades since her downfall.
Asked about Jamaat’s historical closeness to Pakistan, Rahman said: “We maintain relations in a balanced way with all.”
He said any government that includes Jamaat would “not feel comfortable” with President Mohammed Shahabuddin, who was elected unopposed with the Awami League’s backing in 2023.
