LONDON, Aug 26: A British parliamentarian said on Thursday he would try to have Tony Blair impeached over the Iraq invasion, but the move looked likely to embarrass the prime minister at most rather than drive him from office.
Adam Price, a Welsh nationalist member of parliament, unveiled a 99-page report entitled "A Case to Answer" which charged Blair with lying about Iraqi weapons to justify war, and set out the legal case for impeachment.
"Tony Blair has misled this country time and time again," he told a news conference. "It is our duty as members of parliament (MPs) to hold the prime minister to account and restore the people's faith in the democratic process."
Mr Price said 11 opposition lawmakers had signed on, and he had received interest from some in Blair's Labour Party which has a majority in the lower House of Commons.
It would be the first time the ancient parliamentary power of impeachment has been used in Britain since a failed attempt to prosecute a foreign secretary in the mid-19th century. "The genie has been in the bottle for 150 years and we are now unleashing it on the body politic," Price said.
Any motion to accuse Blair of "high crimes and misdemeanours" would have to pass in the Commons, where Labour has a majority of more than 150 seats. Blair's Downing Street office offered no comment.
But even if success is unlikely, the bid could draw renewed attention to an issue that has dogged Blair since the war last year and hurt his trust ratings. Opinion polls still put Blair on course to win a third term in elections due by 2006, but the backlash over Iraq has taken its toll on his personal popularity. His opponents will also be quick to reopen divisions within Labour over the war.
Price said the decision to use impeachment, first used in the 14th century and last used in 1848, had been taken after all other political avenues had been exhausted. "We should all remember that it was not the impeachment of (U.S. President Richard) Nixon that led to his resignation, it was the threat of impeachment that threw the spotlight onto what he had done." -Reuters
