Following the failure of a referendum held on March 8, Leo Varadkar decided to resign as head of government of Ireland, saying that he does not consider himself “the right person for the job.”
The Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, announced this Wednesday his resignation as head of government. The resignation of Varadkar, who had taken office in 2022 through a center-right coalition, took everyone by surprise. The Dublin-born man said he no longer felt “the right person for the job.”
The resignation of the Prime Minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar
The now former prime minister was visibly emotional when announcing his resignation. The 45-year-old leader mentioned having “both personal and political” reasons for his decision to leave office a year before the elections. “I resign from the presidency and leadership of Fine Gael (centre-right party) and will resign as prime minister as soon as my successor can take office,” Varadkar said at a press conference in Dublin.
Leo Varadkar had taken office in December 2022, in what was his second term as Irish Taoiseach (head of government). In 2017 he became prime minister for the first time, at the age of 38, becoming the youngest in Irish history, in addition to being of Indian descent and being openly gay, something important in a country with such a conservative reputation. “I have had the privilege of holding public office for twenty yearsthirteen of which were in government and seven as leader of my party, most of them as prime minister of this great country,” added Leo Varadkar.
On March 8, a referendum proposed by the head of government had been held to modify the references to women and the family in the Constitution, drafted in 1937, which was rejected, despite the fact that almost the entire political class had demonstrated in favor of it. favor of these amendments. This defeat showed the discontent of the people and marked the precedent for the departure of Varadkar, who said: “after seven years in office, I no longer have the impression that I am the right person for this position.” “I am proud to have made the country more equal and more modern“said the leader of Fine Gael.
The future of Ireland after the departure of the prime minister
“The new prime minister must be elected by the population, not by the Fine Gael party. We need elections,” said the leader of the left-wing nationalist Sinn Féin party, Mary Lou McDonald, on the social network X. However, the next legislative elections are scheduled for March 2025 and Varadkar has already confirmed that they will not be brought forward and that “government work will continue“.
After the 2020 elections, the Fine Gael had formed a coalition with Fianna Fáil and the Green party for a rotation in government. However, today these parties have around 20% voting intention in the polls, far behind Sinn Féin. Eoin O’Malley, professor of political science at Dublin University, said Varadkar “He had no clear agenda and achieved few things.” and that “his legacy will be that of a loser at the polls.” It is currently believed that the potential successor of the current head of government will be one of his ministers: Simon Harris (Education), Simon Coveney (Commerce) or Helen McEntee (Justice). ).
Source: Ambito
