Irish Prime Minister resigns as party leader, remains as premier

[News_Editor]

Irish Prime Minister resigns as party leader, remains as premier

2011-01-23 02:05:59 GMT+7 (ICT)

DUBLIN (BNO NEWS) -- Brian Cowen announced Saturday he has stepped down as party leader of Fianna Fáil, but will remain as Ireland's Prime Minister, the Irish Times reported.

Cowen announced the decision at a Dublin hotel, five days after surviving a vote of confidence, which was held after Finance Minister Brian Lenihan accused Cowen of lapses of judgment.

The Premier said he had taken the decision after it became clear that internal criticism of his leadership was deflecting the party from uniting to contest the election on March 11th.

"I'm concerned that renewed internal criticism of Fianna Fáil is deflecting attention from this important debate," Cowen said. "Therefore, taking everything into account after discussing the matter with my family I have taken, on my own counsel, the decision to step down."

He had not been in contact with any senior members of his party before making his decision.

Next Wednesday, there will be a confidence vote put down by the Labour Party and Cowen said he expects the Government to win. He added that the process to elect a new leader would be finalized over the next week.

Cowen's leadership was highly criticized when he attempted on Thursday to reshuffle the Cabinet, after five ministers stepped down earlier in the week. This move was blocked by the Green Party.

The Premier has been blamed for the Irish economic crisis that resulted in a multi-billion bailout from the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He had earlier this week survived a confidence vote and said he hoped the vote would end questions about his leadership abilities.

Fianna Fail MPs dominate the Irish coalition government. The party has been at the helm of Ireland for 53 years of its 84-year history.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-01-23